The Odd Combination of Fate and Humor
by Gambito
Summary: Harry Potter is rescued from the Dursleys by an unlikely ally and is suddenly thrown into a world where magic is real and the people around him cares enough to try and hide him from his reputation. Unfortunately, a certain old coot is out for revenge due to his plans being foiled. Dark Dumbledore, Light Tom.
1. Chapter 1 Meeting

_**The Odd Combination of Fate and Humor**_

 _Notes:_

 _This is my second fan fiction story and it was caused due to a rather insistent idea that wouldn't leave my mind. Fear not, I will be updating both this story and The Friendship of Rivalry at least once a week (twice if I'm not too busy) and I will make sure to give both stories equal attention._

 _Disclaimer:_

 _I do not own Harry Potter in any way; those rights belong to J.K Rowling. I can imagine however that many of us actually DO wish we could be her for at least a day, but I doubt we would be able to find all the right ingredients to be able to pull off a Polyjuice potion to achieve that. The plot and any extra characters are my own though._

 _Warnings:_

 _This story WILL contain slash!_

 _I may at a later date decide to make a male x female story, but this story will be purely male x male slash regarding the main characters. Please do not read if you find it offensive to read about two guys kissing…etc._

 _ **This chapter also contains a certain amount of violence and abuse so please be advised and don't read it if you don't like it.**_

 _Everyone else… please enjoy_

Key:

"Speech"

" _soft spoken or seemingly vague speech"_

'thoughts'

\- _Parseltongue_ -

 **Chapter 1: Meeting**

" _Harry? Harry! HARRY!"_ Harry hurriedly sat up and barely avoided banging his head on the stairs above his bed as he scrambled out of it. "Coming Aunt Petunia."

He grimaced as he waited for his cousin Dudley to run down the stairs and throw him back into his closet again. He was so used to it happening that it took him a whole minute to discover that the stairs were awfully silent for some reason.

Not being one to pass up a chance to get a head start, Harry quickly made his way to the kitchen to start breakfast. He had to remind himself not to make anything too flashy as the thought of supposedly being locked up in the cupboard again for another week without food, made him frown.

He didn't know what they had against his food if he was still forced to cook every day, but evidently trying to cook something fancy he'd seen on the TV while Petunia was watching her programs, wasn't the way to gain a seat at the table as he had imagined it would.

Instead, they had been furious as a feast had been laid out before them and he'd immediately been shoved into his cupboard and locked inside. His uncle had opened the small vents in the door and declared that he would be severely punished if he continued to act better than the freakish waste of space he actually was.

The memory made him keep his head down as Dudley and his uncle entered the room and he could see them openly smirking at putting the 'freak' back in his place. They thought he hadn't eaten anything throughout the entire week, but he had learned long ago that there was a way to open the locked door from the inside. He could only imagine what they would do if he showed them what he could do and the thought was enough to send a violent shiver through his body. It wouldn't fit into their 'perfect' world and he wasn't foolish enough to reveal anything strange to them.

He didn't want them to find out that he only had to place his hand against the door and imagine that he was unlocking the door from the other side. This always caused the locks to spring open and then he was able to grab something to eat and wash up while his aunt, uncle and his cousin were either out or sleeping.

He had gotten the idea of trying psychokinesis after he'd found an old comic book hidden under the stairs in between the cracks of the floorboards. Being locked up in the cupboard most of the time allowed him to practice it to stave off his boredom and he had been extremely shocked to find that he could actually use psychokinesis after training for only two short weeks. Now he could pretty much do whatever he wanted, he just had to ensure that he locked the door behind him each time.

Harry glanced up to see that Dudley was wearing a school uniform. It didn't take him long to realize that Dudley hadn't taunted him because he was getting ready for school. He felt relieved at the thought that he would be left alone at home then since his uncle worked and his aunt practically spent all her time with her friends during the day. He wished he could also go to school, but he knew his aunt and uncle would never pay for him to go.

Harry let his mind wander as he cleaned the pots he had used. His stomach clenched in hunger, but he refused to show it. His uncle would probably say that it serves him right and then lock him away again just for the idea of it. No, if he wanted to eat, then he would have to wait until it is safe to do so.

To his relief, his aunt forgot to throw out the leftovers to the neighbor's dog, but he squashed the hope. He wouldn't believe it until they drove off. He didn't put it past his aunt to seemingly 'forget' the leftovers before turning back and then 'catching' him in the act as he ate the food without permission.

Luckily his aunt and uncle were so excited to take Dudley to school at the start of each year that they barely cared about anything else, even if they forgot it in their rush from home. This allowed Harry to calmly sit down at the table and serve himself some breakfast. He didn't each much since his stomach didn't allow it, but he felt much better as he threw the rest of the scraps over the wall before cleaning the rest of the kitchen. Even though he ate more frequently than in the past, he still had to make sure that he didn't draw attention to the fact that he wasn't so skinny anymore. It was easy when wearing Dudley's oversized clothes, but it required him to still go hungry most of the time to keep up the act.

Next, he had to do the washing and weed the garden. At least the garden only had a few weeds and he finished the task off quickly. He was tempted to leave the windows, but his aunt always left a dirty streak on them to ensure that he actually did clean them when he was ordered to.

Harry then tidied the house before quickly ducking into a shower. He never left traces about the fact that he showered, but luckily his aunt and uncle never came close enough to notice and Dudley was too dense to realize anything. They probably thought that he used the hosepipe outside. It didn't really make sense to him that they would force him to cook without showering, but it would probably never occur to them and if it did, then they would probably blame him for it. They would probably say something along the lines of him trying to poison them or something. They really weren't imaginative people.

Harry smirked at the thought. By the time he finished, it was barely past twelve and Harry found himself sitting on the grass outside and soaking up the sunshine. He knew his aunt would probably be home any minute now, but then he would just pretend that he was weeding the grass. He hated being in the house when he had the chance to sit outside and he usually made the most of it every chance he got.

A rustle started up in the flower bed and Harry jumped up in fright. He knew that it was probably just one of the many rabbits that seemed to plague the neighborhood, but instinct told him that it was much bigger than a rabbit.

He held his breath as a huge snake seemed to appear out of nowhere. His feet were glued to the ground as the snake approached him, but instinct chose to aid him. Harry barely registered that he was already throwing open the back door to escape into the house when hissed words reached his ears.

\- _Thessse darn muggles. How dare they treat me like thisss? When I find Tom, I will make sssure they regret injuring me. If only there wasss another wizard out here who could underssstand me. Sssurely they would help me, but no Parssseltongue jussst had to be a language that had practically died out over the centuriesss._ \- Harry froze and turned to the snake. He was pretty sure that snakes couldn't talk, but weird things have been happening around him throughout his entire life, so Harry decided to take a chance.

\- _You are a snake. How can you speak English? -_ The snake turned her full attention on him and for a few shocking moments, they could only stare at each other. The snake recovered from her shock first and her voice was tinged with excitement and relief as she spoke.

\- _Yesss, I am a sssnake, but I am not ssspeaking Englisssh. We are currently conversing in Parssseltongue my little friend. I guesss thisss isss my lucky day, I can't wait to tell Tom that I've found another ssspeaker. He will be ssso pleasssed. Are your parentsss nearby? I didn't think I would find a wizard living here. Not to mention one who can actually both ssspeak and underssstand the language of the sssnakes. Your parentsss will be able to fix me up. I am sssure of it._ -

Harry shook his head and fear rose up inside him. If his aunt or uncle saw the snake then they would immediately either kill her or capture her. Dudley would probably want to keep her as a pet if they caught her, but she would slowly be starved to death if Harry let that happen. His cousin was quite notorious for not being able to care for his animals for very long before he forgot about them completely and neither of his parents ever jumped in to help unless it was to throw out another dead animal.

\- _I'm sorry, but my_ _parents are dead. I live with my aunt, uncle, and cousin and they would rather kill you or capture you than save you. What did you mean when you called me a wizard? Strange things might occasionally happen around me from time to time, but I'm sure I would have known if I was actually a wizard._ -

The snake seemed to think for a moment before she nodded. - _Only thossse with magic can ssspeak to sssnakes, but even in the wizarding world, they are practically extinct. Trussst me when I sssay that you are a wizard little one. Hmm now I will have to go. I am badly wounded and I need to find my massster. I hope we meet again little one. My massster would be ssso happy and pleasssed to meet you. -_

The giant snake started to sail away, but Harry knew he couldn't just let her go. - _Please wait, I want to try something. I promise I won't hurt you and I can dress your wound if it doesn't work. I can't just let you go while you're injured. You say that I'm a wizard, so I am pretty sure that I can do something to help you if I put my mind to it. -_

The snake nodded, but Harry could see humor dancing in her eyes. He knew that she didn't believe that he could do it. - _I accept your help little one and I thank you for worrying about me, but wandlesss magic isssn't sssomething a child can do. Mossst grownupsss can barely even concentrate enough to do it. And sssince you didn't know that you were a wizard; I am pretty sssure that you also don't have a wand. It also means that even if you did have your wand, you would be unable to do any underage magic with it, without being in a controlled environment. You alssso don't know the correct ssspells yet._ -

Harry refused to listen to her and instead he placed his hands over her scales and willed the wound to close. She didn't move and he guessed that she was probably just humoring him. He could feel the familiar feeling of power rushing through his hands, but he didn't open his eyes until he heard the snake gasp. Harry looked down and he was glad to see that the wound had completely closed. He looked up at the snake but was suddenly thrown back as she launched herself at him. He felt slightly squashed as she hugged him, but let her be.

He felt happy to know that he was able to help. - _Thank you ssso much little one. How can I repay you? I can't believe it! Wandlesss magic and at such a young age! You are going to be a very powerful wizard when you grow up._ \- Harry just shook his head. - _You don't have to repay me. I did it because I wanted to. And thank you for the compliment. I don't have a way to learn more though._ -

The sudden sound of a car in the driveway made Harry panic and he quickly stood up and looked over the wall. His aunt was getting out of the car. - _Quick hide! If my aunt sees you she will try to hurt you and if she sees me talking to a snake, she would tell my uncle and my uncle would probably beat me to death! Please hide, quickly!_ \- The snake nodded and hid in the garden bed. Harry sat down on the grass and acted like he was still weeding the garden.

His aunt came to the back door and after making certain that there was no one close enough to hear her shout, her eyes landed on Harry. "I hope you finished your chores you stupid freak. I want you to go fetch Dudley from his school. He is having a few friends over and I don't want my Dudley to hurt his back while carrying his book bag around."

Harry nodded as a feeling of dread ran through him. "Yes, Aunt Petunia." He knew what would happen next. He would go to fetch Dudley from school and carry his bag. After a while, Dudley's friends will give him their bags as well and they would probably make bets to see how long it will take him to carry the bags until he stumbled.

Then they would think up a suitable 'punishment' for not being able to listen to their orders and the punishment more often ended up being a beating than not. Harry looked around the garden and saw that the snake had completely disappeared. He knew it was for the best, but it had been great to finally talk to someone who didn't think he was a freak. It was sad to know that he would probably never see her again.

Harry stood up and put away the tools he had used earlier. He had to start walking immediately if he wanted to pick up Dudley on time. He had to make sure that he wasn't too early, but he also couldn't be late. Dudley would punish him for the slightest thing if he wasn't careful.

He noticed that his aunt had left again and he grabbed the house keys from the kitchen. After locking the front door, Harry walked in the direction of the school. He kept glancing at the time as he walked, but he swore that he felt someone following him. Yet every time he glanced around he was nothing. It didn't take long for the school to come into view and Harry felt himself cringe.

The last school bell rang just as he reached his usual waiting place and it didn't take him long to spot Dudley and his friends in the crowd. Dudley was built like a bull and nobody dared to cross his path when the group walked around the school yard. Harry knew they should have been suspended for fighting at school numerous times, but the money the parents gave the school to overlook the incidents, always ensured that they wouldn't get in trouble for bullying other kids.

He felt his entire body shiver as Dudley spotted him through the crowd and his cousin immediately stomped his way towards him. Dudley's friends eagerly followed and he could see the hunter-like glint that entered their eyes the moment they spotted him. Harry didn't doubt for a moment that they saw him as prey and he had to force himself to stand still as he tried to hide his nervousness.

The group purposely made their way towards him and Dudley eagerly tossed his bag over to him. Harry barely caught it and he slightly stumbled under the weight before placing it on his back and trying to walk home as fast as he could with the group following not too far behind. The more ground he covered with Dudley's bag, the less ground he had to cover when the rest of the group handed him their bags as well.

Unfortunately, as dimwitted as they were, it didn't take the group of bullies long to figure out his plan and they dumped their bags on him as soon as they were out of sight from the school. Harry closed his eyes as the bets started up around him. It was a usual occurrence and the people who walked past them easily just averted their eyes. Nobody wanted to get mixed up in a situation they could just as easily avoid.

Harry tried to concentrate on something else and when the feeling of being watched returned, he mentally grabbed onto the sensation with both hands. Unfortunately, it also took his attention off of the task at hand and he soon felt himself stumbling as his foot made contact with a crack in the pavement.

He barely had enough time to shield his face before he found himself sprawled out on the ground. His cheek, knees, and elbows were scraped raw at the skidding impact. His breath hitched in his throat as he realized that his cousin and his friends were about to beat him up and the fear triggered a flight response that he couldn't control.

He didn't quite know where he was running to since he wanted to just get away from his cousin and his friends, but soon enough he found himself at a dead end within a dark alley and his cousin was slowly advancing on his with an evil grin on his face. The rest of the group eagerly closed in behind Dudley.

"Oh Freak, I didn't know you ever had it in you to run. I wonder what my dad will say when he finds out how rude you were to us. I can't believe you would go so far as to throwing our bags down onto the dirty sidewalk and calling us those awful names. Don't you know how much, school things cost? I know you're jealous that I can go to school and you can't, but we can't have a violent and unstable freak like you in our school. Can you imagine what the parents would say?"

Harry closed his eyes as the taunting voice made him realize his mistake. He should have just taken the beating and got it over with. Now he will have to suffer through their wrath and he would get beaten by uncle Vernon when they returned home. That was if Dudley and his friends didn't just leave him to die in this alleyway. The thought sent a chill through his body. He didn't think that Dudley was capable of murder, but his cousin would also be too dumb to notice if Harry actually died under their 'care'.

The first fist sent him straight to the ground and Harry's mind reeled as the world began to spin around him. He tried to protect his head as they hit him and it wasn't long before they resorted to kicking him into the ground. Harry felt his mind drift as his body disconnected him from the senses of his body. It felt strange to float around without pain, but it only reminded him that there was a great possibility that he wouldn't survive the present encounter. Common sense told him that a person's mind only cut off from the rest of their body when something was really wrong. It was a natural instinct for the body to shy away from things that are too intense.

Suddenly Harry found that he did not care anymore. It was nice to not feel pain for once in his life. It would have been nice if he could have lived a more fulfilling life, but apparently, he hadn't been destined for that this time around. A loud hiss startled him out of his thoughts and Harry was able to keep himself awake just long enough to see a gigantic snake rear up before him as his cousin and his lackeys turned tail and ran as if their lives depended on it. It probably did if the anger in the hiss was any indication.

He didn't know if it was really happening or if it was just his imagination, but it was nice to think that someone out there cared enough for him to want him to live. It was strange to think that his first ever friend had been a snake, but it was nice to finally know the feeling of being able to depend on someone.

- _Come on little one, don't give up on life. I'll take you to my massster; he will know how to help you. I'm sssorry that I wasssn't able to ssscare them off before they did any damage, but you ran ssso fassst that I couldn't keep up at all. Hold on I will carry you. We live in an apartment near here and I can at leassst cassst a glamor over usss, I refussse to let you go back to that awful family and I promissse that we will protect you._ -

Harry's mind registered the words, but he was too far gone to understand them. All he wanted now was to fall asleep and perhaps to never wake up ever again. If he woke up then he wanted to believe that the snake would keep her word, but who could ever love a freak like him? Was it even possible? Harry sure hoped so as he managed to open his eyes one last time to catch another glimpse of the snake. Apparently good deeds are worth something, after all, he decided as a pained smile graced his lips and the world went black around him.

 _ **Thank you for reading this fanfic…**_ _ **No solid pairings yet, but I will put an open poll on my profile.**_


	2. Chapter 2 Saved

_**The Odd Combination of Fate and Humor**_

 _Notes:_

 _The story might be a bit confusing at the moment but please bear with me, everything will be explained._

 _Disclaimer:_

 _I do not own Harry Potter in any way; those rights belong to J.K Rowling. I can imagine however that many of us actually DO wish we could be her for at least a day, but I doubt we would be able to find all the right ingredients to be able to pull off a Polyjuice potion to achieve that. The plot and any extra characters are my own though._

 _Warnings:_

 _This story WILL contain slash!_

 _This means that this story will be purely male x male slash regarding the main characters. Please do not read if you find it offensive to read about two guys kissing…etc._

 _Everyone else… please enjoy_

Key:

"Speech"

" _soft spoken or seemingly vague speech"_

'thoughts'

\- _Parseltongue_ -

 **Chapter 2: Saved**

Nagini felt pure anger rise up within her as she finally caught up with the boy and his tormentors. She hadn't been planning on following him, but something about his words and reactions had troubled her when he had been speaking to his aunt. At first, she thought that he just didn't feel like fetching his cousin, but his body had reeked of fear when he'd made his way to the school.

Nagini had wanted to snort when he'd spoken of his fear that his family would hurt her. The thought of muggles even touching her, was ludicrous, but her wound had in fact been created when a muggle had tried to behead her with one of his tools, yet she refused to admit the error in her judgment. The boy had helped her and she had been extremely grateful as the pain disappeared. She had just wanted to help him in return.

Now a great feeling of protectiveness overwhelmed her as she carried the boy to the apartment she shared with Tom. Something about the boy felt extremely familiar, but she couldn't figure out why she felt like she did. A part of him felt like Tom, but that couldn't be possible.

Nagini made it into their room without any trouble and laid the boy on the bed. Now that she was back at the apartment, she could contact her master. Nagini placed her head against the fire in the hearth and hissed. - _Tom Marvolo Riddle get your asss over here right now. A boy sssaved my life and he isss heavily injured. I owe him a life debt and you will help me heal him. -_

She was very relieved when the man stumbled out from the fire. But of course, she forgot that she shouldn't have been out of the apartment in the first place. - _I thought I had told you to stay home Nagini. It isn't safe for you to wander the streets here! You could have been killed if anyone recognized you out there. -_ Tom sighed and shook his head at Nagini's willfulness before looking around. - _Where is this boy and how did he save you?_ -

Nagini slithered to the bed. In hindsight, she should have rather placed him on the couch, since blood now marked the sheets, but she didn't really care. A scourgify charm would clean it up in a second. - _Here he isss. I ran into sssome trouble with a muggle asss I wasss returning home. I essscaped and I wasss looking for a way to contact you when I came upon thisss boy. At firssst he ran but he underssstood me when I ssspoke and thisss ssstopped him. He ssspeaks Parssseltongue, Tom, he ssspoke to me. He'sss going to be a very powerful wizard when he growsss up. He wasss able to heal my woundsss with wandlesss magic without the aid of any training._ \- Nagini could see that Tom was intrigued when she answered his question.

\- _And how, may I ask, was he injured this badly Nagini? Did something happen that made you bring him here instead of taking him to his parents? -_ Nagini nodded sadly.

\- _He told me hisss parentsss died when he wasss little. He wasss forced to live with hisss aunt and uncle, but from what I sssaw, they were both magic hating mugglesss. Hisss cousssin and hisss friendsss beat the boy up after he ssstumbled and dropped their bagsss, which he had been forced to carry like sssome common houssse elf. From the marksss I sssaw on hisss body, I am very certain that they abusssed him Tom, ssso can we keep him pleassse?_ -

Tom nodded. - _Yes, we can keep him, but first I want to find out more about him. Let's get him cleaned up and healed. I am pretty sure Severus will be able to help us._ \- That said, Tom immediately went to make a fire call. Nagini followed closely on his heels.

"Severus Snape, Hogwarts." The flames flickered slightly before Nagini recognized the face of the potions master in the fire. "Hello Tom, is there anything I can do for you?"

"Yes Sev, are you busy at the moment? Nagini found an abused magical child and he needs medical treatment right away. Do you think you can come through?" The potions master immediately nodded with a grim expression on his face. Tom and Nagini both moved back and a second later Severus Snape stepped through the flames with a bag in his hands.

"It's study time at the school at the moment so I'm not busy. Where is the boy, Tom?" They briskly moved to the bed and even the usually stoic Professor was frozen in shock for a moment before he got to work. He cast a few spells and Nagini could practically feel the anger coming off him as the results began to show.

"This boy has an entire history of old wounds due to abuse. He's suffering from internal bleeding, his wrist is broken along with a few ribs and he has a concussion. I will have to place him in a magical coma while I repair the damage done to his body and he is going to need a few potions to help his malnourished body. Where did Nagini say she found the boy? I'm thinking of paying his parents a visit to make them sign over their rights to this child. It is quite clear that he is a wizard and me being the headmaster of Hogwarts allows me to look after him instead."

Tom nodded but before he could even repeat the question to Nagini, Nagini answered him, pure anger clear in her voice. - _He livesss at number 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Sssurrey. It's clossse to here. He called his aunt Petunia and hisss cousssin Dudley. Hisss parents died when he wasss young ssso he wasss left with hisss aunt and uncle. He didn't even know that he wasss a wizard when I ssspoke to him._ -Tom turned back to Severus and relayed the information to him.

As Tom finished giving the address, Severus' face suddenly became very white and he collapsed into a chair. "I don't believe it. It can't be." Both Nagini and Tom felt extremely confused at the shock on the potions master's face, but before they could ask about it, Severus stood up and moved the hair away from the injured boy's forehead.

Silence filled the room and Tom sank down onto the bed next to the boy when he recognized the mark. "Are you trying to tell me that this is the boy we have been looking for these past few years? If you knew he had other family members, why didn't we check there first?"

Severus grimaced. "Because I didn't think Dumbledore would be stupid enough to place the boy where he would be abused. Clearly, I was overestimating his intelligence or his humanity at the very least. Lily and James both told me that they were going to make sure that Harry never fell into the hands of her sister and I am sure they stated this in their will. I thought it was strange that we didn't get called to the reading of their will, but didn't think much of it at the time. Now I have a sneaking suspicion that their will was never read."

Tom nodded. "Please heal him, Severus. Once he is well enough we will take him to Gringotts. Goblins hate being wrong more than they like having money and I imagine that Dumbledore must have made some kind of bargain with one of them. We could go without the boy, but I doubt they would tell us anything without proof. We will also have to ask the goblins to perform an evaluation ritual. Then we might find out what actually happened that night." He took a deep breath as if to hold back the flood of emotions before continuing. "Nagini said that he was able to speak Parseltongue. James was a descendant of the Slytherin line due to his connection to the Peverell line, but due to Godric and Salazar being the sires of their bloodline, they decided to create a line that was all exclusively Gryffindors where the other lines were exclusively Slytherins. I can't believe that we finally have another speaker after all these years."

Severus nodded walked closer to the boy and began to silently wave his wand in complicated movements. Neither Tom nor Nagini wanted to move from their spots and Severus soon tried to chase at least one of them from the room. "I know this is your house Tom, but there's nothing you can do for him here at the moment. Call the Malfoys and ask Narcissa to bring Sirius, Remus, and Peter here. She can go get some clothes and a few extra items the boy might need for when he wakes up. And tell them to keep it a secret for now. I know Bellatrix would also want to see him, but we both know that she will immediately murder those muggles before we even have a chance to find out for certain that the boy is really Harry Potter. I would have asked you to call for Draco since the boy would probably appreciate a friend his own age, but I think we all agree that we don't want the little dragon to see someone in such a state."

Tom nodded. "Thank you, Severus." Nagini refused to leave the room, but she curled up on a sofa at the far end of the room in order to stay out of Severus' way. Neither Tom nor Severus had the heart to try and chase her out so they just let her be. Nagini knew that Tom was happy to be able to do something other than standing around and waiting for the boy to wake up and he apparated away after glancing back at Harry one last time.

Severus started to fervently cast spells on the boy and while the boy's body was healing, he made sure to heal the cuts and gashes on his skin. He also spelled a few potions into him since he would be unable to wake the boy in order to let him drink them by himself without causing him great amounts of pain. He knew that he probably should've contacted Poppy, but he wasn't sure if she could protect her mind from Dumbledore, who would probably go for the weakest link at Hogwarts first.

He knew Poppy was fierce enough to protect anyone in her charge, but to his dismay, she was simply awful at Occlumency. True, he had actually expected it, but the witch had shocked him when she promptly ordered him to tell her nothing of importance since she simply refused to be the one that put them all in danger.

Nagini barely fell off to sleep as a soft lull entered the room during the potion master's treatment when a loud crash echoed inside the house. She immediately raised herself up into full attack mode, but the sight of the three Marauders made her sink back into the chair. The shocked anguish on their faces spoke volumes and they all tried to storm the bed at once.

Nagini automatically slithered forward to protect the child from harm, but Severus seemed to have expected their noisy intrusion. The three men ran straight into a barrier shield that the potions master had cast around the bed and the anger in his expression made the trio look down sheepishly after they landed in a tangled heap of limbs.

Severus waited a moment longer to get their full attention and his words sent a shiver down Nagini's spine, even though she wasn't the subject of his wrath at the moment. "I didn't ask Tom to call the three of you here so you could make a racket. I asked him to call you because I know the three of you each marked him as your cub when he was born. We are still trying to determine whether this boy is really Harry Potter and this seemed to be the easiest way to do it until we can confirm it at Gringotts. If you don't immediately start to behave yourselves, I will ban you from this room."

Nagini snickered softly as the three men automatically fell silent. They definitely knew better than to go against Severus when he was in guardian mode. The potions master looked through the group and everyone in the room could see that he was probably wondering whether he should chuck them out of the room anyway. But he calmed down and fixed a certain werewolf with a stare. "Remus, since you _usually_ seem to be the most clear-headed in your group, would you kindly check if this is indeed the child we have been seeking?"

Remus nodded sheepishly as he stood up and brushed off his robes. He carefully walked forward, but when he found no other barriers, he made his way to the bed. It was clear that he could already scent the boy when they had stormed into the room and the way he moved confirmed their suspicions. "Severus, I can't believe this. It's Harry. What happened to him? Why does he look like he hadn't eaten in weeks?" Severus looked at the werewolf and Nagini could see that he fought to keep the emotion out of his eyes. The man was supposed to be legendary for his indifference, but his friends knew that it was just a mask.

"He was left in the care of Lily's muggle sister, by Dumbledore." Everyone knew the story of the relationship between Lily and her sister and the three men looked like they wanted to hex someone. Nagini knew they probably would hex Harry's old family into oblivion soon enough, but not before the entire group had a chance to use them for target practice to try out questionable spells. Nagini herself wouldn't mind a bite or two once they were sent to deal with the muggles, but Harry would be better off not knowing about it when they decided to pay them a visit.

"Nagini mentioned that Harry didn't even know that he was a wizard, so I gather that his 'family' didn't give him his Hogwarts letter on his eleventh birthday. I have been able to persuade Tom to take the Dark Arts position at Hogwarts next year and I would like to extend the invitation to the three of you as well. Peter I would like you to take the Charms position at Hogwarts."

Peter looked like he wanted to argue, but Severus assured him. "I have already spoken to Professor Flitwick and he wishes to retire this year. He has, however, asked whether he could stay on Hogwarts grounds and as such you will be able to ask him when you need help during the school year. Remus, I would have liked you to take up the Defence Against the Dark Arts position, but I am pretty sure that Sirius would completely mess up Care of Magical Creatures, so I would like you to take that position instead. This means that Sirius would be left with the DADA position on the condition that he doesn't try to prank his students." This remark made Sirius grin sheepishly as if he had been planning to do exactly that.

Everyone looked excited at the prospect of being a teacher at, which was according to them, the best school in the entire wizarding world, but they were utterly confused as to why they were being offered these positions. Severus easily recognized the reason for their confusion and sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose with his hand as if he had a migraine.

"The reason I want you at Hogwarts is that I want you to keep an eye on Harry. We can't let Dumbledore find him or he will use the boy against us, as I imagine he had been trying to do when he hid Harry away. The open abuse also tells me that he probably wanted to make the boy a loyal slave after he seemingly 'saves' him from his family whenever he got around to it. I don't know when that would have been, but at least we have him now and we can protect him. Unless I am mistaken and he just wanted to punish the boy for something he didn't do. I am sure that all of you agree that we want to be able to give him the safety, freedom, and love that he apparently didn't receive in that dreadful house."

Everyone in the room nodded in acceptance. "That being said, he will probably be extremely frightened when he wakes up and there is a chance that he would be scared of further abuse among a room full of strangers. I know that all of you care a lot about him and that includes me, but we will have to concentrate on moving slowly. None of us would ever think of hurting him, but he doesn't know this and it will take a while for him to get used to the idea. I found out from Tom that he is a Parseltongue, so please don't be too shocked when he displays the ability. It might take a while for him to wake up since he is in a magic induced coma, but we should set some ground rules, at least until he knows the entire story. For now, I suggest we give him some space and one of us will…"

Severus' voice was cut off when a small scratchy voice interrupted him. "Thank you sir, but I can already sense that you are good people. I see the friendly snake here, so I assume that you are the master she talked about? Or are you his friends?"

Severus didn't know how, but somehow the boy had broken out of the magic induced coma all on his own and the men found themselves trapped in emerald green eyes as he moved them to glance between them. Nagini hissed happily and moved to curl up on the side of the bed and Harry hugged her before hissing back. Nagini curled up behind the boy in order to keep him still. He looked at them as if expecting some kind of punishment for talking to the snake, but when they just smiled at him, Severus could see that the boy was glad to be accepted as he was and he easily continued his conversation with Nagini.

Even though the rest of the people in the room didn't understand Parseltongue, they easily interpreted the words based on the expressions between Harry and Nagini and this relaxed them. The boy seemed to be able to think for himself and it secretly made them relieved. Dumbledore hadn't been able to mold and manipulate him.

Severus was the first to regain his voice. "Are you sure it's okay to be so trusting of us? I must admit I am glad that you can sense that we are not a threat to you, but how do you know this for sure? What is your name?"

Harry thought a bit before he answered. "I was named Harry Potter. My aunt once told me that when she was feeling too happy to regard my questions as irritations. I don't remember my parents, I suppose I was too young, but something about you and the other men, who look like they are posing as statues, seem very familiar to me. You said something about knowing my parents?"

Everyone in the room felt like they had the wind knocked out of them. They were expecting a scared little boy if his wounds were any indication of the life he had led, but instead, they were faced with a boy with a mind that seemed to have matured far beyond his years. It was clear that the boy was able to absorb and prioritize information around him and they realized that he probably took everything they did into account before he made up his mind on whether someone was a threat to him or not. It was hard not to see that Harry had endured a lot during his childhood and they didn't know whether to be relieved or angry that the situations had seemed to force the child to grow up. On the one hand it would keep him out of Dumbledore's claws, but on the other hand, they mourned the fact that it deprived the boy of his childhood.

"Yes, we knew your parents. The three men, whom you assume to be acting like statues, were, in fact, something like brothers to your father and I cared for your mother as if she was my sister. In a way she practically was. The black haired man is called Sirius Black. Your parents asked for him and me to be your Godfathers. Remus Lupin is the man standing next to you. The other man is called Peter Pettigrew, who just happens to be a wiz with charms, but he once messed up a charm that made him look like something between a human and a rat in his second year and it took forever to find the counter-spell. Please use their names since they wouldn't want it any other way."

A groan filled the room as a blushing Peter stared daggers at the potions master. "That was the only time I messed up; can't you just let it go, Severus?" The man named Sirius grinned. "It might have only been the one time, but you made pretty sure that we would never forget it, Peter." Laughter filled the room and Harry was about to get angry when he realized that they were just teasing their friend, in a good way. The concept confused him, but he was relieved to see that Peter laughed with them. He looked at the man and found that he didn't look like a rat at all. He was tall and lithe with reddish hair and his face seemed so open to expression as if he wore his heart on his sleeve.

It calmed Harry a lot to know that he was around people who actually cared. This thought made him turn to the man Peter had called Severus. "What is your surname?" He wasn't quite sure if he should call the man 'sir' or by his name and this was the perfect chance to ask.

Severus didn't disappoint him. "My surname is Snape. You may call me Severus when we are away from Hogwarts, but you will address me as Professor or Headmaster when we are at school. We can't have the students thinking that I'm treating you differently."

Harry looked and felt completely confused at the words. "Since when am I going to school?" The rest of the people in the room tensely froze. They all knew that they would never force the boy to go until he recovered, but they never imagined that he probably didn't want to go to school.

Severus took a deep breath before explaining. "You need school to be able to advance in your magic. There are a lot of things in our world that wouldn't make sense if you didn't go to a school in order to learn them. I believe you have some experience with your magic?"

Harry grinned sheepishly. "I know I have to go to school and I really want to go, but I didn't know that the option was open to me. Are you saying that this Hogwash school is a magic school? How many students study magic and how can they hide it from other people?"

Severus felt his anger rise but he kept it down. The Muggle family would pay the price of neglect before the end of the week was over if it depended on him. "Yes you are going to a school for Wizards and Witches and it's called Hogwarts. There are special charms of concealment that can hide both people and objects and you will learn it at Hogwarts. Your mother and father were both brilliant in their trade and they studied there as well. Your father became an Auror, which is the magic equivalent of the muggle police, and your mother became a healer, which is signified as the magical equivalent of a muggle doctor."

It was clear that Harry was happy to hear about his parents, but something bothered him greatly. "What really happened to my parents and why was I stuck at the Dursleys when it seems like I could have come to live with one of you? All of you sounded so happy to see me, but why didn't you come visit me if you cared?"

The people in the room held up a collective breath. No one really knew how to explain what happened the night that leads up to the death of most of the Potter family. But they all knew that honesty was the best in a case like this so they all looked to Severus to explain.

The potions master just sighed and sat down on the bed before turning fully to the boy. "What I am about to tell you, Harry, is only the stuff that I remember from that night. It might not make a lot of sense, but I will try to keep my explanations simple. Once you are well enough, we are going to take you to the goblins to see if they can extract the full memory of what happened that night, with your consent of course. We all want to know what happened that night, but we have been able to fill in most of the blanks between me and Tom. Tom isn't here right now, but he is the one who is considered to be Nagini's master, even though I must admit that she seems to rule him more than he could ever rule her." Despite the tense atmosphere, a few snickers sounded up around the room and Nagini gave her own good natured hiss.

 _ **Thank you for reading this fanfic…**_ _ **and remember to vote on the poll for your favorite couples. You can make up to 6 choices for the couples you want in the story and if I left out any choices, please PM me and I will add them if they fit the storyline.**_


	3. Chapter 3 The Past

_**The Odd Combination of Fate and Humor**_

 _Notes:_

 _ **A review from a guest and a few others has clued me in on a few things that aren't clear. I was going to explain it in this chapter anyway since it ties into the explanation of what happened in the past.**_

 _ **I have reduced the poll choices down to only a few choices and will stop the poll next week. Those who haven't voted yet, you can go to the poll and choose three different couples for this story.**_

 _Disclaimer:_

 _I do not own Harry Potter in any way; those rights belong to J.K Rowling. The plot and any extra characters are my own though._

 _Warnings:_

 _This story WILL contain slash!_

 _This means that this story will be purely male x male slash regarding the main characters. Please do not read if you find it offensive to read about two guys kissing…etc._

 _This chapter has one or two swear words so be warned!_

 _Everyone else… please enjoy_

Key:

"Speech"

" _soft spoken or seemingly vague speech"_

'thoughts'

\- _Parseltongue_ -

 **Chapter 3: The Past**

Harry listened to Severus as he spoke. It was a given that he hadn't imagined the day to turn out like this, but if he was honest with himself, the earlier beating was worth it. The man called Severus might have tried to put him to sleep, but he had blocked it and it had taken everything he had to not react to the pain when the man had started healing him. After the healing, it had been a shock to find out that the people actually knew him and he had listened intently until he thought it was the best time to 'wake up'.

His aunt had told him that he had been left on their doorstep when he had just been one year old. This meant that he had spent the last fourteen years in their care and all the abuse could have been easily avoided if someone had just thought to look for him at the Dursleys. But he couldn't find it in him to be angry over the lost time.

He wasn't a big fan of the saying 'everything happens for a reason' but he supposed that he kind of had to apply that to the current situation. Now he just had to figure out what the reason was. Harry turned his attention to Severus, who had gotten up to get him a glass of water before the explanations began. He didn't know what they would learn, but he really wanted to know what happened to his parents and why he was sent to the Dursleys in the first place.

"The night your parents died, we were supposed to gather there for a visit, but an hour before the appointed time, your parents told us that they were urgently needed elsewhere. We all knew that your parents were sometimes called out in tandem when it was needed and we didn't think much of it at the time, but since the rest of us had all been gathered together beforehand, we found it very strange that they didn't contact anyone to come and take care of you."

Severus took a deep breath and Harry could see that the night still haunted him greatly. He wanted to tell him that whatever he did or did not do, was in the past and that nobody could live a life full of 'what-if's'. But he didn't say anything. Now was not the time to say those words, so Harry just softly placed his hand on Severus' arm. The contact felt a little strange to them both, but neither could deny that they needed the small comfort.

Severus nodded his thanks before he continued to recall the night. "Your parents made sure to key us into the wards and the floo in order to ensure that we could come and go anytime we wanted and Tom decided that he would go to fetch you since it seemed like your parents had a lot on their hands. He told me that he had gone through the floo and entered the room where you slept when he suddenly heard someone familiar fighting with your parents. The man demanded that they hand you over to him, but they refused and a few seconds later your father was killed. Tom said that he heard your father shouting at your mother to run before he died and so she did."

Harry felt his stomach roll as he pictured the scene. His father had tried to protect his mother and it was obvious that he had failed. He only hoped that they were together wherever they were and he wondered whether the mysterious man was the same man that had seemingly placed him with the Dursleys. He hadn't forgotten Severus' remark about the Dumbledore person trying to make him a slave.

He pulled his attention back to Severus. "Your mother ran straight to your room and Tom hid behind the door. She tried to grab you and escape, but a barrier spell was cast around the room and all her available exits were blocked. She saw Tom hiding behind the door, but didn't want to draw any attention to him, so she started asking the person why he was doing what he did."

The whole room was tense as the story progressed. "Dumbledore, the man who had killed your father, had chuckled at the question but didn't seem to deem it important enough to answer until his wand had been pointed at your mother once more. At that time, instead of using a binding spell, Tom had decided to shove the man away and he took his place in front of your mother and Dumbledore had decided to reveal his plan in order to get them to let their guard down."

Harry stretched and laid back into the pillows as he listened. "He told them that he had decided to take over the Wizarding world 'for the greater good' and that he had arranged for a fake prophecy where a dark lord would rise and Harry would defeat him. He intended to kill your mother and Tom as well in order to gain sympathy and then he would raise 'The boy who lived' as a weapon that would destroy the next dark lord."

The room was deathly still as Harry tried to take it all in, but he knew there was more that he could find out. Severus paused the story for a moment but continued when he saw that Harry was looking at him expectantly. As they looked into each other's eyes, Severus nodded and continued the tale.

"After Dumbledore spoke, he aimed his wand at your mother and Tom tried to make use of his distraction in order to kill the man before he harmed her, but it was too late. As Tom sent a killing curse towards Dumbledore in order to save your lives, Dumbledore somehow blocked it with a powerful shield of his own making and it changed its course."

Harry had a dreadful feeling that he was somehow involved in what happened next and Severus didn't disappoint. "The curse was headed straight to you and both Tom and your mother jumped into its path, but Tom was a little too late with his shield and the curse struck your mother first before it struck him. Some of the residue of the curse landed on you and Tom said that he saw something flowing from him to you before he passed out."

Severus looked grim for a moment. "Dumbledore thought that he had killed everybody in the house and he took you from us. Since then we have been trying to find you, but nothing we did turned up any leads. We agreed to keep looking for as long as it takes, but we didn't get anywhere. It was like you entire magical signature had disappeared. We hoped that we would see you at Hogwarts when you turned eleven years old, but that also didn't happen. Since Hogwarts herself writes and sends the letters, we were unable to see where you lived and this led to another dead-end."

"As the years passed, we thought you had either died or become a whole different person since we knew nothing about the life you were living. We didn't stop searching, but in our minds, we already feared that we would never see you again. It wasn't until last year that we learned that Dumbledore was planning to rule over the country as a king, by first getting everyone to trust him and then forcing them to make him supreme ruler."

Everyone in the room grimaced at the thought of how bad such a reign would be. People would forever be manipulated by the man and many would not survive. Harry gave a slight shudder. He didn't personally know the man, but even he felt the need to kill the old wizard. He knew that killing was wrong, but he also understood that many lives would be spared if the old man died.

Harry turned his thought back to his parents. "My parents sound extremely brave. I can't imagine what it would take to dive in front of someone else on purpose in order to save their lives, but I find that my body usually moves on its own. I wish I could at least remember them, it's painful to not know what they looked like."

The people in the room gave him shaky smiles as they thought of the sacrifices that his parents made. Harry could tell that they all cared a lot about his parents. He turned back to Severus and gave him a quivering smile. Severus seemed to understand Harry's unspoken urge and he nodded. "Your parents died to save you and Tom still hates himself for the fact that he hadn't fought better to protect all of you. We all wish that we had followed Tom that night, but the blame for your parents' death lies with Dumbledore alone. We all trusted him, but he betrayed us and I am not going to sugarcoat my words since most of us feel the same. Albus Dumbledore will never come near you again and if we so much as sense the bastard, he is going to die a very slow and painful death."

Harry felt his tears spill as he heard the one thing he had wanted the most during his time at the Dursleys. Someone wanted to protect him and they seemed to truly care for him. He didn't want to hope for a family, just in case this wasn't what they wanted, but he couldn't fight the giddy feeling that filled him and this prompted him to voice his thoughts. "Uhm, does this mean that I never have to go back there ever again? I don't have any money, but I can find a job so that I can pay for the things I need. I want to stay here in the Wizarding world, please? I promise I won't be in the way."

Harry held up his breath at the shocked and angry looks around him, but he refused to cower. They had promised that they wouldn't hurt him and he knew they meant it. He was not expecting to be suddenly engulfed by a sea of hugs as everyone stepped closer to hug him. It didn't last long, but it was enough and Harry cried softly at the feeling of finally being held with care. He laughed when Nagini hissed at them in mock anger when they almost squashed her in the process.

They then sat on the bed and the man called Remus spoke up. "Harry, of course, you can stay in the Wizarding world. In fact, you might find that you will want to run away later on since we will be practically fighting each other to get you to come and visit. You will go to school. A job can wait until you've graduated, we will take care of you."

The teen pulled a fearful face and the man named Peter chuckled. "We won't really fight Harry. What Remus means is that you will probably have no free time left. We all would love for you to visit and after you've settled in with one of your Godfathers, you will probably receive invites left, right and center."

The raven-haired boy immediately got a broad smile on his face before it morphed into shock as his mind registered the rest of Peter's words. "You mean that I will be able to live with either Severus or Sirius?" The boy didn't know Sirius yet, but as he watched the man smile broadly, he knew that he would easily be able to like the man.

Both men nodded in response and he could see that they both looked excited at the idea. Harry didn't want to let anyone down, but that was exactly what would happen if he had to choose between living with one of the two men. The thought distressed him and the rest of the room's occupants must have seen this because both Severus and Sirius rushed to assure him that he didn't have to live with either of them if he didn't want to.

Harry could see the pain in their eyes when he realized that they probably thought that he didn't like them, but the sound of someone clearing their throat from the door, made everyone jump back. They saw it was Tom and their bodies relaxed. Harry was pleasantly startled when Nagini suddenly hissed a hello and Tom replied in kind.

The man stepped deeper into the room. "Hi Harry, I'm Tom. Are you doing okay?" the teen nodded and Tom smiled before he turned to the rest of the group. "I think what distressed Harry, was the thought that he would have to choose between the two of you without really knowing you and I might have a solution for that. I've been working on an idea for a while now and everything is already in place. I was actually going to talk about it this weekend, but I guess now is as good a time as any."

Harry could feel his curiosity spike like the rest of the room's occupants and he silently waited for Tom to explain. "We have all been trying to watch out for each other with Dumbledore still on the loose, but the truth is that we are mostly left vulnerable when returning to our homes, even with the added wards."

Harry could sense where the man was going with his story and he hoped against all odds that he was right. "I drew up plans about a year ago and have been renovating an old castle that I inherited ever since. It took a while, but most of it is finished now and I wanted to ask everyone if they would like to come live there. Each person will have their own apartment inside the castle, but we would be able to protect each other much better there."

Tom glanced around nervously and although he didn't really know the man, Harry immediately jumped up to hug him with excitement. Unfortunately, he kind of forgot about his wounds and his legs gave out from under him just as he wanted to throw his arms around the man's neck.

Harry closed his eyes and waited for the impact of the floor, but instead, he was pulled into strong arms while being carried back to bed, before anyone else could even stand up. A worried looking Severus admonished him before he ran a few diagnostic spells and everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they heard that Harry hadn't hurt himself.

Severus pushed him back against the headboard and chased the rest of the people off of the bed. "You have to rest Harry; your body isn't over the shock yet. If you can't stay in bed then I might have to give you a sleeping potion and then this conversation will have to wait until later."

Harry quickly nodded his acceptance. He didn't want anyone to leave and he wanted to know whether the rest of the people would accept Tom's offer. He was sure they could all see his eagerness and this was confirmed then they each gave him a knowing smile before turning to Tom. Severus spoke his acceptance first. "I am sure that we all accept Tom. We might not be able to live there during school times, but it will be good to have a safe-haven where the rest, who isn't going to Hogwarts, can stay together." The rest nodded to confirm his statement and Harry let out an excited giggle.

The giggle morphed into a yawn and Sirius, Remus and Peter smiled before each of them gave him a hug. They promised to be back later and Harry had a slight suspicion that they were probably going to spread the word about the castle. He felt so sleepy, but he was afraid that when he woke up again, he might find that it was all just a dream.

Tom took Severus to the side and they spoke a few words before he returned and hugged Harry. "I know you don't want to be alone so we will arrange for someone to keep you company while we work. Would you want to make a friend?"

Harry nodded sleepily, but his stomach felt like it was tied in knots. He's never really had friends before and he would love to have a friend, but what if this potential friend didn't like him? He shook the thoughts away. It would be nice to wake up with someone else in the room.

Tom smiled. "His name is Draco and he also really wants a friend. In a way, you will kind of be more like half-brothers than friends since Severus is his Godfather as well." Harry felt a spike of excitement at this, but he was becoming too tired to even reply, so he simply took Tom's hand and lightly squeezed it before turning onto his side and burying into the pillows.

He heard Tom and Severus chuckle, but couldn't find any energy to respond. The day's anxiety seems to have caught up with his body. He forced himself to stay awake long enough to see both Tom and Severus leave the room when a boy about his age appeared. In a way, his sleepy mind connected the boy's fair appearance with that of an angel, but then he fell fast asleep, oblivious to the fact that the boy had nervously taken hold of his hand.

 _ **Five hours later…**_

Harry woke up to find that the room had gone dark. Panic gripped him for a moment as he thought that he was back in his cupboard, but a soft hand gripping his own shook off that idea. He tried to switch on a light with his magic, but when nothing happened, he remembered a candle that had been placed next to his bed. He was shocked when he lit the candle only to see the form of a boy sitting in a chair next to his bed, with his head on a pillow.

He remembered seeing the boy enter the room before he fell asleep and he smiled. He couldn't believe that the boy had actually stayed with him the entire time since they didn't even know each other, but Tom's remark about brothers returned to him and Harry bent over to throw a blanket over him when he saw that the boy was slightly shivering.

Harry smiled as he looked at the boy. Draco, he reminded himself. He really hoped that they could be friends. He slipped his hand back into Draco's hold and laid back. It was nice to simply rest without worrying about cleaning or doing something and he took the time to get his thoughts together.

It slightly troubled him that he had so readily accepted the people, but his gut feeling told him that they could be trusted and they had all seemed genuinely concerned for him. It was an amazing feeling to be wanted, but he still wanted to see whether the happiness would last or not.

He was just happy to be away from the Dursleys and the apparent threat of some old psychopath. Even if things changed and he had to live on his own, Harry was sure that he would be able to take care of himself. His mind protested the idea, but he knew he had to think realistically and the first thing he would do, was to ask the people around him to teach him more about what being a wizard entails.

He was pretty sure that there was a lot more to magic than simple wand waving and he wondered if it was anything similar to the abilities he had learned to use. He itched to learn more about it and the thought surprised him. He knew he was always eager to learn new things, but it felt like something was driving him to seek as much knowledge as his mind could hold. The feeling was a little unsettling, but it was also welcomed.

A sleepy murmur next to him broke him out of his thoughts and he was shocked when he found himself staring into two steely gray eyes. The two boys stared at each other in shock for several seconds before the blond jumped up and struck out his right hand.

Harry was surprised at the sudden movement, but he took the blonde's hand anyway. The blond gave him a smile. "Hi, I'm Draco Malfoy. I can't believe that I finally get to meet you…" He suddenly paused awkwardly and Harry realized that Draco must have thought that they would never meet.

He smiled reassuringly at the boy and Draco nodded before continuing his speech. Harry inwardly giggled because it literally sounded like Draco had practiced the words in front of the mirror for hours. "Our parents were great friends and my mom always told me about when you were little. We apparently played together a lot and they always thought we would end up being as close as brothers when we got older."

Harry wondered why the blond seemed to become all fidgety, but then he saw the slight hope in the gray eyes and he realized that Draco wanted to know whether they could become close again. He also realized that the boy was a lot more accustomed to giving orders than asking for permission and he smiled.

He also wanted a friend and if Draco was too shy to ask then he would ask instead. "Draco… uhm I can call you Draco right?" The blond nodded enthusiastically and Harry smiled. "Would you like to be my friend? I don't know anything about the Wizarding world and it would help me a lot if I had someone my own age to talk to. We must have played together a lot when we were younger because I kind of feel like I know you from somewhere and I feel at ease in your presence."

Harry blushed when his mind registered the words his mouth had accidentally blurted out, but when he saw the happy smile on Draco's face, he decided it was worth it. He inwardly smiled as the blond caught himself and tried to hide his happiness behind a holier than thou expression, but failed.

Both boys knew that they found someone to speak to about their problems and the feeling of coming home, cemented in Harry's thoughts. He decided that he would stop trying to find fault with the people around him. He might be extremely scared of getting hurt again, but somehow he knew that he wouldn't.

He was surprised at how much his life had changed in the span of a couple of hours. He had gone from a hated freak to someone with a family and a friend who actually cared and wanted him around. It was a great feeling and hours later Lucius and Narcissa found them cuddled together on the bed. It was clear that the two had been talking for hours and they called the rest of the group. Narcissa insisted on taking a photo before they closed the door and left the teens to sleep.

It was nice to see that the two hadn't lost their friendship, even though it had been years since they had played together. Tom called the rest of the group together in the lounge and told them about his plans. It wasn't surprising that everyone agreed and it wasn't long before they started making preparations for the move. They also wanted to plan a surprise party for Harry and it wasn't a shock when Bellatrix insisted to help with the décor. The group had watched in horror as she charmed everything into a gothic theme before Narcissa had a chance to dissuade her and everyone chuckled as the usually composed Narcissa started chasing Bellatrix around with the cake knife.

Everyone one knew that things were about to change, but they chose to enjoy the feeling of being together. They cast their sadness inward at the thought that Lily and James weren't there with them, but the thought that Harry was finally safe, made the sadness melt away.

 _ **Thank you for reading this fanfic**_ _ **I hope you enjoy the update.**_


	4. Chapter 4 Plans and Surprises

_**The Odd Combination of Fate and Humor**_

 _Notes:_

 _ **Poll**_ _ **\- I have reduced the poll choices to only 5. So far the biggest favorite is: Draco / Fred / George. The Tom / Harry option is just 1 point ahead of Tom / Severus with Severus / Remus / Sirius and Draco / Harry trailing behind.**_

 _ **I am going to change the voting deadline to this Monday so that I can start to work on the outline for the next chapters. Anyone who still want to influence the choices, this will be your last chance.**_

 _Disclaimer:_

 _I do not own Harry Potter in any way; those rights belong to J.K Rowling. The plot and any extra characters are my own though._

 _Warnings:_

 _This story WILL contain slash!_

 _This means that this story will be purely male x male slash regarding the main characters. Please do not read if you find it offensive to read about two guys kissing…etc._

 _Everyone else… please enjoy_

Key:

"speech"

" _soft spoken or seemingly vague speech"_

'thoughts'

\- _Parseltongue_ -

' _Latin words'_

 **Chapter 4: Plans and surprises**

Harry woke to the sound of his bedroom door opening and automatically jumped up and stood at attention next to the bed. Or that was what he had intended to do at least. Unfortunately he forgot about his bedmate in the scramble and the next moment he found himself landing hard on his behind next to the bed with Draco on top of him. Luckily Nagini had crawled onto a heating pad that Tom had laid out for her under the bed; otherwise they would have been pinned by one very unhappy snake.

It only took him a dazed moment to register that he had automatically jumped at attention because he thought that it had been his uncle opening the door. He blushed sheepishly and looked at the blonde on top of him. Draco looked furious at being woken in such a manner and Harry slightly cringed as if waiting for a blow.

Someone must have explained his circumstances to the blonde though, because the anger was gone in a second and he felt himself enveloped in another hug. 'These people seem to really like hugs' he thought as warmth filled him. He didn't really like people discussing his personal life, even if they just guessed a few things, but it was nice to have someone who took his reactions into account due to circumstances.

"I see you took the time to get better acquainted. Should I inform certain young men, that you are not available anymore, Draco?" Harry heard Severus' drawled words, but before he could try to work out what he had said, Draco got off him. The blond was blushing and when Harry glanced at Severus, he could see humor in his eyes.

"It's not like that, Severus! Harry jumped out of the bed and pulled me along, I think something spooked him." This brought Severus' gaze to rest on him and he wondered why the expression of humor had shifted into worry.

The man silently walked over and before Harry could gather his thoughts, Severus picked him up and laid him back on the bed. He silently checked him over to see if there were any remaining injuries on Harry's body, but when he found none, he gave a reassuring nod. "I should have realized that you would be skittish after what you have been through. I should have opened the door more softly. Can you tell me why you automatically jumped up when you heard the door? You don't have to if you don't want to, but it will help us to understand you better."

For a moment Harry wanted to tell the man that it wasn't important, but he knew that if they really cared for him, then they would want to make him comfortable around them and that could only be done if he trusted them, even if it's just by a little bit at first.

"I will tell you, if you promise to allow me to work through the rest of it on my own. I don't want to sound like a whiny brat, but I promise to tell you when something bothers me. I know people usually say that it is better to talk about these things and let it out, but I want to get to know everyone before I do that. I know you are all amazing people, but it's only been a couple of hours since I met you and the whole acceptance thing needs time to settle in my mind."

Both Severus and Draco nodded even though Harry had only been addressing Severus. He didn't mind it though since he had a feeling that he would be revealing some of his secrets to Draco in the near future anyway. He took a deep breath to calm his racing heart and mind.

"The reason I jumped out of bed when I heard the sound of the door opening, was because my uncle used to either wake me up with a bucket of cold water, or throw me out of the bed if I wasn't awake and standing at attention beside my bed when he came in. That meant that I had to wake up when he slid the first bolt out of place and by the time he opened the door, my bed had to be made and I had to be dressed and standing at attention to wait for orders about what I had to do that day. I usually just put my clothes on before I go to bed in order to make time to actually make my bed."

The teen grimaced. "During those times I had to stay in my wet clothes no matter what the weather was and if I dared to dirty the kitchen with water drops, I was punished. The next night I always had to go back and sleep on the wet bed otherwise I would have had to sleep on the dirty floor. Luckily I was so small that he usually only wet the one side of the bed, leaving me to sleep on the other side.

Harry could see Severus and Draco sharing a look of anger and disgust, but he knew they weren't aiming it at him. It felt amazing to be around people who took his word when he told them about his treatment in the Dursley house and it was quite apparent that the Wizarding world worked very differently.

This reminded Harry of the fact that he knew next to nothing about the Wizarding world and he frowned before turning to Severus again. "Uhm Severus? Am I right to understand that things work a lot more differently in the Wizarding world than in the muggle world?" The black-eyed man nodded, but stayed silent when he sensed that Harry wasn't finished speaking.

"You told me that the school starts at age 11, so that means I have no way to learn magic and everything about it before the school year starts, unless I get a tutor, but who would want to tutor me when I'm so far behind?" Severus smiled a little at Harry's question. The boy seemed eager to learn and he didn't know that he had teachers in every subject at his disposal yet.

"Yes you will be in the same year as Draco when you go to school, but we will train you beforehand. Since Nagini told Tom that you are good at wandless magic, we will start practicing that first. I want to test your abilities with it and then we can go get you a wand."

Harry felt a wave of excitement overcome him and he enthusiastically hugged Severus. The man froze for a second, but Harry didn't care. The man had calmed him and he couldn't wait to be able to learn everything. He glanced at Draco who was softly snickering where he stood, but just let it go. He didn't know why the blond was laughing, but he would probably find out later.

The blonde's expression suddenly morphed into a look of confusion and worry. "Harry, what did you mean when you said that you had to get up as soon as the first bolt unlocked? Does that mean they locked you away in your room?"

Harry grimaced, but chose to answer anyway. It had been his slip after all. "They placed me in the cupboard under their stairs as soon as I got there if their stories are to be believed. I had numerous locks on my door to ensure that I could only come out when they wanted me to. That was the idea at least. I learned enough in time to be able to sneak out and lock the door behind me again when I returned. They sometimes only locked the one lock, and then I had to wake up and make my bed as soon as I heard someone coming down the stairs. When it was my aunt at the door, she would just yell at me to wake up before unlocking the door."

The blatant anger that appeared in the faces of the other two wizards didn't spell anything good for the Dursleys, but Harry found that he didn't really care. He knew that Vernon and Petunia could have stopped the abuse at any time, but they didn't and that was what made him angry. He was also angry at Dudley, but he knew that, that had been the fault of his cousin's upbringing.

Draco was obviously very confused at Harry's revelation and he looked at his Godfather. "Severus, I thought there was a law against underage magic? How come the Ministry didn't pick up on it?" The dark haired headmaster nodded before elaborating.

"Yes, but they can only monitor the magic born children when they use their wands. Not many adults can achieve wandless magic, so it's safe to say that children should be unable to access it except when accidental magic comes into play. The underage magic law starts when students receive their first wand and each wand has a timed detection charm placed on it by the Ministry. Once the wand has been held for six years, the magic that a wizard or witch receives at the age of 17, breaks the charm and witch or wizard is then able to do spells freely while staying undetected."

Severus glanced at him and he felt a slight nervousness course through him until the man spoke. "Harry must have truly believed in magic and studied hard to make it work for him, but I don't understand how he knew about magic when he wasn't told or exposed to it at all."

Harry blushed slightly. 'I suppose I should tell them about the comic book.' He took a deep breath before swinging his legs over the side of the bed. When he was sure he had their undivided attention, he spoke. "While I was locked up in the cupboard under the stairs, I found a forgotten comic book between the boards. I didn't have much better to do, so I read it. It was about something called psychokinesis. It's kind of like the muggle way to train your brain in order to do something that other people, who haven't trained, can't do."

Harry was happy to see that he had a captive audience, so he continued. "There are many types of kinesis like pyrokinesis, which enable the user to manipulate and start fires and hydrokinesis, which can allow the user to manipulate water. Psychokinesis allows the user to move and levitate things with their mind along with many other uses. It sounded very interesting and since I had nothing to do other than sleep, when I was locked up in the cupboard, I decided to try it and see how it works. I would have tried telepathy, which is the ability to read minds and inject thoughts into it, but I chose psychokinesis instead."

He smiled slightly as Draco and Severus' interest spiked. It was strange to see wizards so intent on information about muggles and so he continued. "The comic book said that it would take a long time to train but it didn't take me long before I started noticing results. Soon enough I found that I could lock and unlock the door whenever I wanted."

Draco and Severus both smiled at this, but he could still see the underlying anger. Harry wondered what he could do to take their minds off of the subject. Then he remembered the strange vials the man had held when he healed him, but he didn't want to slip up and reveal that he had been awake during the healing episode, so he decided to take a different approach.

"What were those vials next to my bed? I kind of noticed them when I woke up, but I forgot to ask about them when we started talking." Draco immediately smiled and he could see by the excitement in Severus' eyes, that the subject was something of a passion of theirs.

Draco was the first to speak and his excitement was apparent as he jumped up on the bed next to Harry. "Those are what we use to store potions in. You learn to brew them in school and even though Severus is the headmaster of Hogwarts, he is also a potions master and he teaches the potions class. They hold everything from potions that could grow back your bones, to potions that could make you extremely lucky and even potions that force you to tell the truth. Each potion has a recipe that needs to be followed to the letter otherwise you will mess up and the potion might explode or even have the opposite effect than it was intended. Severus usually says that it is a delicate art and those words are very true since very few people ever master it."

Harry's face fell at hearing that. He didn't know anything about the Wizarding world and so he was sure to fail such an amazing subject, but before he could talk himself down any further, he heard Severus speak.

"Yes, it is an amazing subject and I might just be saying this because I'm biased, but if you work diligently to learn the basics and patiently work yourself up, then I am sure that you will be great at potions. Your mother was brilliant at potions herself after all. It takes much longer to learn and understand potions, but if you want, we can schedule extra lessons for you. Draco is already receiving extra lessons since he enjoys the subject just as much as I do, so we can both help you together."

Harry couldn't keep his happiness back and this made him laugh happily for the first time in a long time. It was just so amazing to have people willing to teach him, that he was sure that he was partly laughing because of shock, but Severus and Draco seemed to take it all in stride. It took him a while to bring his attention back to the other two wizards in the room and he felt a blush creep over his cheeks when he saw both of them staring at him with amused and shocked faces. He wanted to apologize for the fact that he had just seemingly laughed about nothing but Draco threw his arm around his shoulders with a laugh of his own. Severus gave him a small smile as Draco spoke.

"If you're this excited after hearing about extra lessons then I'm sure you will do fine. Usually when we talk about potions, people quiver in fear before running to hide." The slight dimming of the amusement in Severus' eyes told Harry that the potions master felt confused as to why not many could grasp and enjoy the subject even though it was hard and he vowed to himself that he would study for the subject as much as he could. This raised another question though.

"I promise to always give my best Severus, no matter what happens." The potions master nodded and Harry continued before someone else spoke. "How will I attend Hogwarts as myself without alerting that madman you talked about? If he's as crazy as you say then I'm sure that he will immediately figure out that I can't really protect myself yet and he could take advantage of this."

Severus and Draco's faces became solemn, but a second later Severus smirked. "We will be teaching you how to glamour first then and we will change your name, but that will be a surprise for later. Since you are good at wandless magic, Imagine your power engulfing your entire body and…"

"Severus Tobias Snape! Don't tell me you're trying to teach him magic after he's barely even recovered yet!" A women's voice suddenly interrupted and Harry could tell that she was angry. He subtly tried to scoot backwards, but Draco saw his movement and pulled him close to comfort him before whispering to him.

"That's my mom, you don't have to be afraid, she's just very protective of you at the moment. Her name is Narcissa." Harry relaxed slightly, but not completely. He knew that these people weren't like his muggle family, but he also knew that some mothers didn't really like outsiders. His thoughts were erased a moment later when she immediately stormed over to the bed and hugged Draco before turning towards him with a searching expression and a question.

"Would you mind if I hugged you Harry? The last time I saw you, you were such a cute little thing and you and my dragon played up a storm in our house. We had to cast a whole bunch of chasing charms to find the two of you when you decided to hide before we finally gave in and just let the two of you run free after we attached a tracing spell. It didn't really surprise us when we found both of you passed out in his castle house with each and every toy scattered around you."

Harry nodded with a clenching feeling in his heart as his magic provided the images he had forgotten long ago. Tears sprung to his eyes as he felt faintly familiar arms hug him and he knew he couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Aunt 'Cissa!" He cried out the long forgotten nickname as he burrowed into her arms and he didn't care that Draco and Severus saw him crying. For the first time in a long time he felt the feeling of motherly love and it healed his damaged soul little by little. This reminded him of how Severus had been so caring and protective and his soul healed just a little bit more. Magic rose up around them and he heard quite a few gasps, but the rest of his body was oblivious to everything until his magic settled down once again.

A shocked silence followed and Harry dared a peek at the other occupants in the room. Everyone was frozen until Narcissa moved out of their hug while still holding him at arm's length. Her eyes were filled with tears and he felt confused when he saw happiness in her eyes as well. Did wizards or witches cry when they were very happy? Harry didn't know, but he decided to wait and see what happened next.

Narcissa choked a bit as she lifted her hand and Harry saw a lightning bolt made of silver while a green snake circled around it. A black phoenix could be seen in the background of the crest and the word _'Mater'_ was written through the crest. Severus raised his hand and Harry saw the same crest on his hand with the word _'Pater'_ running through it.

Lastly Draco lifted his own hand and the same crest with the word _'Fratris'_ was inscribed upon his hand. Harry thought about their reactions and realized that he must have unconsciously had something to do with the tattoos, but before he could ask if the people around him were alright, the door flew open and he saw the man called Sirius rush in along with another blond man he didn't recognize, but he assumed the man was Draco's father because of the resemblance.

The two newcomers strode in, but didn't demand any explanations. Instead they both looked to see whether the other occupants of the room had also been marked and when they saw that this had indeed happened, they turned to Harry.

For a moment he feared that they were angry, but both men smiled with a poorly hidden happiness and they raised their left hands only to reveal that they also had the crest with the word _'Pater'_ written onto it.

Harry was confused at first, but then he realized that these people had instinctively answered his call for a family and while he felt giddy at the thought of having a family again, he also felt scared that he had somehow forced them into the commitment he hadn't even known that he was making.

Harry cleared his throat and everyone in the room held their breath. He was slightly quivering and everyone could see that, but they didn't know what to make of it until he spoke. When he spoke, it was hesitantly and the other people in the room automatically stayed quiet. "Uhm, I'm truly sorry if this sounds rude, but what are these marks for and what do the words mean? I was raised by muggles and so I don't know anything about magic symbols."

The blonde shaggy looking man called Remus also stepped into the room and Harry saw that he also held the same crest on his hand with the word _'Pater'_. He felt really confused, but he calmed himself. It was no use freaking out when the people around him could provide him with answers.

Narcissa glared at the rest of the people in the room and they took it as a cue to be quiet before she turned to Harry with a soft smile and gave him another hug. "Your magic recognized us as a substitute for your family and before you worry about forcing anyone into anything, I assure you that each person who carry the mark, actually truly wants to be there for you. 'Pater' is the Latin word for father and 'Mater' is the Latin word for mother. Draco's symbol carries the word 'Fratris' and it means brother."

The smiles around the room widened and Harry was surprised to see that even Severus was smiling. It took him a moment to realize that he wasn't alone anymore and that he actually had a family that cared. He wondered why he had so many fathers and only one mother and brother, but he didn't really mind it at all.

Narcissa and Draco stayed close to him, but he could see that the men wanted to come closer as well. Some unknown instinct screamed at him that he had to allow them to get closer to finalize the bond and he subconsciously reached out his arms to Severus for a hug.

The potions master went slightly red as all eyes fell on him and he quickly stepped closer to get the humiliation over and done with. He didn't want to wait for a lecture from the other people in the room, but the moment his arms closed around Harry's waist, he felt a power unlike anything he had ever imagined, engulf him.

The rest of the people in the room gasped as the words on his hand transfigured to _'Patrinus'_ which meant godfather in Latin and Harry could see that a strange energy now enveloped his Godfather's form. He yelped in surprise when he felt a slight burning sensation on the skin of his neck, but he ignored it until each person in the room hugged him in turn as if compelled.

The next few minutes were a blur and Harry felt close to fainting as he released Sirius from his hug. It seemed fitting that one of the godfathers started the chain and another of the godfathers ended it, but no one paid attention to that as they noticed a glowing crest being burned to Harry's skin as the words on Sirius' hand changed into _'Patrinus'_.

Apart from Severus and Sirius, the rest of the crests remained the same, but every crest changed into a deep green color with a silver sheen as the bond was sealed. Nobody knew what was happening until Severus, decided to speak up.

"It seems like Harry's magic decided to form his own family circle, but it looks like there is one core person missing." Everyone could see the rune-like crests surrounding Harry's neck, but there was a core-like crest missing from the base. This never boded well for crest circles and everyone who had accepted Harry, felt their worry spike. They knew that they would do their best to finish the circle, but they had no idea who the last person could be.

Crest circles tied people together by fate and once it's initiated, it couldn't be undone. The group gave each other worried glances and it was Sirius who decided to speak up. "When a crest circle is formed, the people that form the circle only have a limited time to close the circle, or they risk losing their magic. Crest circles are usually only formed once a group is sure that they have all the needed components, but it seems like Harry's magic recognized us as the substitute for his original family and automatically acted out."

Severus stepped forward. "The circle gives the members a boost to their magic and it is said that the link can't ever be broken once it's completed. The problem is that if you kill one of the people in the circle while its uncompleted, then everyone dies."

Harry felt fear course through him and he wanted to apologize for placing everyone in danger, but Severus and Sirius both gave him a pointed look that said that he was going to be in big trouble if he even dared to blame himself.

Remus looked like he was onto something though as be stepped closer to Harry in order to examine the crests. Everyone held their breath as he suddenly stepped back with wide eyes and it was apparent that he had to compose himself before he could speak. "The Ministry won't be able to take you away if we can complete the circle. In a way Harry's magic has given us a way to stay together. Unfortunately there is one important and specific crest missing. It seems like Harry has somehow met his soul mate."

 _ **Thank you for reading**_ __ _ **remember that this is your last chance to vote on the polls.**_


	5. Chapter 5 Preparations

_**The Odd Combination of Fate and Humor**_

 _Notes:_

 _ **For those of you who haven't worked it out yet, Harry Potter is 15 years old in this fanfic.**_

 _ **Tom didn't die in the attack since Lily took most of the curse and since Tom was standing in front of Harry, his soul piece went into Harry. He did mean to kill Albus after all, so the intent to kill was there, but the soul piece was ripped from his body because he unconsciously tried to find a way to ensure that he could return for revenge if he couldn't save them.**_

 _ **Tom was only knocked unconscious and Albus thought that he had killed both Tom and Lily with one curse. But there aren't any other Horcruxes. As for why there is only a single Horcrux…well, you will just have to read the chapter and the rest of the story to find out.**_

 _ **I won't be saying anything about what Dumbles is thinking yet, but I will reveal that Harry was taken while he was away from the house and so any detection spells that might have been placed, couldn't be set off. The alarms would only be set off if a wizard or witch happened to get close to the house, but since Nagini isn't a witch... well you get the idea.**_

 _Disclaimer:_

 _I do not own Harry Potter in any way; those rights belong to J.K Rowling. The plot and any extra characters are my own though._

 _Warnings:_

 _This story WILL contain slash!_

 _This means that this story will be purely male x male slash regarding the main characters. Please do not read if you find it offensive to read about two guys kissing…etc._

 _Everyone else… please enjoy_

Key:

"Speech"

" _soft spoken or seemingly vague speech"_

'thoughts'

\- _Parseltongue_ -

' _Latin words'_

 _ **Mental messages**_

 **Chapter 5: Preparations**

All eyes focused on Remus as he said those words. True, soul mates were rare and revered in the Wizarding world, but they were extremely hard to find. You could know someone for years and never figure out that they are your soul mate until the magic decides that the time is right to bond.

It almost looked like everyone wanted to panic but Severus stepped forward. "You better calm down otherwise I'm going to force a calming draught down your throats. These runes are only made when a wizard or witch is involved and since Harry barely left his Muggle house, it's safe to assume that it's someone he met or saw after coming here."

Narcissa grew contemplative as she spoke. "But what about when he was small? He met a lot of witches and wizards when we held our parties and if his soul mate is someone he just met then could it be someone in this room?" Severus shook his head in response to her question.

"The soul mate bond only starts forming at the age of thirteen, which means he was too young at that time for the bond to form. If it was someone in this room then their crest would have held the words ' _Anima salit'._ " A relieved sigh filled the room and Harry smiled despite the seriousness of the situation.

He looked around the room and laughed. "Hey, I don't think I'm that bad to be bonded with." Draco snickered at this, but Harry knew why they were relieved. It was clear to him now that the crest circle took other family ties and love interests into account as well when it was formed. It was clear that Draco, Narcissa, and the blond man formed one unit already, and Severus and Sirius were his Godfathers. He just didn't know how Remus fit into the scheme of things, but with the way the man was staring at Sirius and Severus, he was sure that there was something there.

He knew gays and lesbians weren't really liked in the muggle world until recently, but it made him happy that more and more countries seemed to accept the change. He himself didn't really know which one of the sexes he was actually interested in since he never had much time to think about love interests in the past, but it would be nice to know if it was accepted in the Wizarding world as well. He decided to observe before he asked anyone about the subject.

His mind wandered back to the fact that he apparently had a soul mate. Sure, people tended to fantasize about having someone who was made to be their other half, but he always thought it was mostly wishful thinking. Yet here he was, trying to figure out who his soul mate was so they could finish the Crest circle.

It scared him in a way since he knew that he would stay faithful to the person now that he knew that such a person existed, but he also worried about what his soul mate would say when he found out about the bond. The question ran around in his mind until he was sure that the person would probably not be very happy.

Severus cleared his throat and everyone focused their attention back on him. He didn't seem very comfortable with the idea of sharing whatever he was thinking about and he looked at Remus. "Remy, could you go fetch the other two for me please?" The group looked even more confused as Remus left, but one-by-one they seemed to realize something until only Harry and Draco felt left in the dark.

The two boys looked at each other and shrugged before glancing around the group to try and find answers. The entire group looked extremely worried and Severus came forward to kneel in front of Harry. "Harry, I think we might have an idea about who your soul mate might be, but I would like to request that you close your eyes when he hugs you to complete the ritual."

Harry wanted to argue and he felt a stab of betrayal, but the look in Severus' eyes told him that now wasn't the time. "I just want you to get to know your soul mate the natural way instead of immediately forcing the two of you to notice each other. I will be telling him about you since he has been looking for his soul mate for a long time and because he would immediately be able to figure everything out, but I want you to do what you want until you figure out who your other half is."

Harry was shocked that someone actually wanted him to enjoy his life the way he wanted. He was glad that Severus wasn't trying to keep him away from whoever his soul mate is like he first thought, but instead, he was giving him time to get used to life in the Wizarding world before making any commitments.

He looked up as Severus continued to speak. "Although I know that you will be able to figure out who it is in no time, you still have two years of school left until you are legally an adult in the Wizarding world and that means that you have all the time in the world to really get to know and maybe even fall in love with your soul mate."

Harry nodded and there was a knock on the door. All eyes followed Remus as he entered, but Severus gave Harry a pointed look and he closed his eyes before he could see who the other two figures in the doorway were.

It wasn't very easy and everything inside him screamed that he had to open his eyes and meet the one that was made for him and whom he was made for. A muffled discussion took place before he both sensed and heard a person slowly approaching him.

His senses seemed to go into overdrive as his magic realized that his soul mate was near and it puzzled him as to why he hadn't felt anything earlier. It occurred to him that his magic had probably been so busy trying to keep him alive and heal him that it hadn't registered the fact that his soul mate had been close to him.

The smell of books and sandalwood made him frown as he tried to place the scent. He knew that he'd smelled it when he entered the house, but he hadn't been able to focus on anything through the pain he had been in.

Harry itched to open his eyes as he felt arms go around him, but he ignored the feeling as he felt the entire crest circle on his neck grow warm. He heard shocked and amazed gasps around the room, but it was like his entire being was only focused on the one person holding him.

He snuggled deeper into the person's warmth without a second thought and realized that the hard muscles could only mean that his soul mate was a man. He let his senses take over as time seemed to stop and he could feel that his soul mate was a lot taller than him. He also felt muscles that held telltale signs that his soul mate tended to work out.

A blurry image formed in his mind, but as much as he wanted to know how the man looked, he first wanted to learn the extent to which his body responded to his soul mate. One would probably call him a romantic, but he always imagined that when he spent the rest of his life with someone, there would at least be passion as well as understanding without the need for physical beauty.

Suddenly it was like he could see from the eyes of the other man while he felt the other man watch the world from his mind and eyes in return. Two shocked gasps echoed inside the room as the change of perspective suddenly dawned on them. Harry could feel the shock and wonder that the man felt towards him and he was confused when he felt the little telltale signs of lust as well before he blushed when he realized what it meant.

His soul mate apparently already had feelings for him it seemed and he also felt a slight amount of guilt from him, but the feeling was quickly disappearing and being replaced by something wondrous. Harry could feel that his soul mate accepted him no matter how many flaws he had and it caused a happy feeling to pulse through his soul.

Harry could feel that something was missing from his soul mate as he reached out and it felt strange to him that something was missing other than their bond. His body, mind, and soul instinctively yearned to fix whatever was gone and hurting his soul mate with its absence. He felt a pull on something that could only be described as his soul, while a tearing sensation caused pain to well up within him and as light filled the room he closed his soul mate's eyes which he now seemed to control.

He felt a piece of his soul mate inside him and a gasp of wonder echoed from him as the piece of his soul mate melded itself with his soul, while the missing piece of soul he had broken from his own only seconds ago, melded into the place of the missing piece in his soul mate's soul.

It took him a second to realize that they now had a piece of one another forever tied to their respective souls and the thought made him grin with happiness as darkness threatened to overtake him. He felt their minds retreat from each other as the magic and their souls settled, but he still felt the deep connection just as he knew that his soul mate felt the same.

Harry didn't really know what had occurred, but everything inside him, screamed his contentment that his soul mate didn't feel lost anymore. The darkness crept closer and he frowned as he realized that it seemed like the darkness wanted to take him away.

He felt fear almost overwhelm him as the darkness suddenly clutched him closer and wretched him away from his soul mate, but a second later he felt strong arms fold around him again. He knew that he had passed out since the floating sensation he felt could only be present in dreams and he also knew that his soul mate probably still held his body close to him in the physical world. Yet as he looked up into a pair of red eyes, he pulled himself even closer to the man floating with him.

He saw nothing else but since Severus had described glamours, he realized that his soul mate probably kept his true eyes hidden from other people in the real world. He knew that he had never seen such an amazing pair of eyes and the thought that it belonged to his soul mate, made him extremely happy. The idea of solving such a mystery also made him giddy and as his mate smiled, he came to the conclusion that his mate could actually read his mind inside their shared space. He could only see the red eyes, but every movement his mate made, was also being revealed little by little.

In a way, it was like the outline of his soul mate and he guessed that each time he saw or recognized another attribute of his mate, the pieces he recognized would fall into place.

Harry found that he wanted to ask all kinds of questions now that he had the chance, but his soul mate shook his head and he grinned at his mate's obstinacy. "You're not going to talk because you don't want to reveal who you are?" His red eyed mate nodded and Harry could swear that he felt his mate mentally grinning.

This got Harry thinking and he looked around for something to use, but the entire space was blank. This frustrated him until he realized that he could probably create something from nothing inside their shared mind space. It was a private space in their minds after all and he had enough imagination to fill in whatever blanks they needed.

This thought excited him and he looked back at his soul mate. "Well if you aren't going to talk, would it be acceptable for you to write? Severus had a point about me getting to know you before I find out who you are and I would at least like to be able to communicate with you somehow."

He felt his mate's amusement and a moment later he gasped when he found himself sitting on a comfy sofa with his mate. He still couldn't see anything other than his eyes and this made him smile. His mate traced a wand in the air and Harry was pleasantly surprised again when the words turned around to face him after the completion of each paragraph.

He realized that his mate was writing him messages with his wand and this made him happy at the thought that he would at least be able to talk to his mate. He looked at the words and saw that it was written in a very elegant script that seemed to disappear as soon as his mind finished reading each paragraph of the message.

The message read:

 _ **I am so glad to finally meet you, although I must admit that I didn't expect you to be my soul mate. Severus was right when he told you to close your eyes.**_

 _ **As much as I want you to know who I am, I admit that I am afraid that you wouldn't like me much when you find out exactly who I am. I'm not the most patient of people and I tend to get violent when I'm displeased. I would never hurt you of course, but I'm afraid that I've been told numerous times that I'm scary to be around when I'm angry.**_

 _ **I don't know how we are able to share such a world we are present in at the moment, but I imagine it had something to do with the ache you fixed in my soul. Yes I know it was you since I now feel you inside my very being. I looked at your own soul and found a piece of myself in it and that made me realize that you probably merged my soul with yours while fixing my soul with a piece of you somehow.**_

 _ **I can't tell you how happy it makes me to be whole again, but we will have to tell Severus about this. I don't want anything to happen to you since messing with souls can be extremely dangerous. First, we will have to find out whether you damaged anything when you transferred a part of your soul to me.**_

 _ **I don't know how a piece of my soul ended up in you, but I'm pretty sure that Severus has the answer. Now I know I'm making Severus out to be this huge genius, but well… okay, he is a genius, but he's not smarter than I am! I just haven't thought about any possible explanations since I felt you in my arms. You really are turning out to be a distraction… In a good way, I promise.**_

 _ **Severus is very protective of you, which is actually a shock to most of us. Usually, he hides his protective streak behind his snarky persona, but I guess your reappearance must have shocked him more than he would dare to admit. I must say it shocked all of us just as much.**_

 _ **I always hoped that we would be able to find you alive and I was so shocked when Severus revealed that the injured boy Nagini found was you. I was so shocked that I couldn't really function at all until Severus… well, let's just say it was a really big shock.**_

 _ **Sorry, I know I'm rambling on and on here, but I had so much to tell you. It seemed like we both slipped into unconsciousness when you mended my soul and they have carried us into separate rooms. I'm going to wake up and calm them down, but I will request that you sleep.**_

 _ **I heard your thoughts about not sleeping earlier when Severus healed you and I suggest that you take the time to rest now, otherwise your body might experience some side effects.**_

 _ **Sorry, it's a side effect of my Legilimens when I'm worried about someone. I automatically tune into their mind without being able to stop myself. I promise I will spend as much time with you as I can without revealing myself, but I know that my image in your mind will develop further every time you subconsciously realize something about me.**_

 _ **You strike me as someone who would refuse to give up on anything if it depended on your happiness, so I know that you will probably figure out who I am soon enough. I just hope that you will accept that I am who I am. I want to take things slow and treat you properly when you discover me, so expect a lot of dates in the future.**_

 _ **That is all I will say for now. Goodnight my Harry and please keep safe. If you ever need me, just call out and I will be here. We may be connected as more than soul mates now, but I promise to never invade your privacy without your permission.**_

With that Harry felt his soul mate hug him one more time before disappearing. He would have panicked at the sudden loss of contact, but instead he found himself being tucked into a bed within the dream space they had created as his soul mate returned once more to make him comfortable before disappearing again.

The words his soul mate had written to him, lingered in his mind for a long time as he tried to rest. He wondered why his soul mate seemed so afraid of his own anger. Did something happen in the man's past that would lead him to think that he could become extremely violent?

It was likely, but Harry refused to believe that his soul mate would hurt anyone he thought of as family or friends. He knew it was strange of him to not think about anyone except those he knew, but he was sure that his soul mate would also accept his friends if he made any.

The prospect of going to a school made him excited and he itched to learn more about magic. A moment later a whole library appeared around him and he gaped at the numerous books. He felt the trace of his mate's magic on them and smiled. His mate was happy at the thought that he wanted to learn and he had provided him with the means to learn more without straining his body.

Harry was surprised that he had access to his mate's knowledge, but it made him very determined to become just as smart as his mate apparently was. The first book he picked up was something called an Animagus manual, but when the title blurred and he found nothing inside but blank pages, he took the hint that his mate didn't want him to learn that yet.

Harry knew that he had to return to reality, but somehow he also knew that his mate would describe to the rest that Harry was fine. He didn't know if his mate would reveal that they were somehow able to share knowledge, but when a new book was suddenly plopped onto his lap in the dreamscape, Harry decided that his mate must have told somebody and that that somebody had prescribed some reading material for him, to his mate.

He let out a squeal of excitement as he saw the potions book and he immediately knew that his soul mate had told Severus about the dreamscape. Harry didn't really mind at all since he already felt like he had a very close bond with Severus and starting off his education with learning how to make real potions, was something that he wouldn't give up on even if it proved to be complicated.

A few hours later, Harry realized just how complicated potions actually were, but he pushed himself to understand it. He wanted to make his soul mate and Severus proud, so he studied diligently.

A cauldron and potions workstation appeared out of nowhere in the dreamscape after he had finished reading the theory behind potions and Harry was happy to find that any ingredients that his soul mate knew of, were also there.

This led him to making a few simple potions and he was ecstatic when he got most of them right. His soul mate mentally pushed him behind a shield a few times during his potion making, when it looked like the potions were about to go haywire and he always found a few written instructions appearing in order to show him how he could fix the potion he had messed up.

A few more hours later Harry realized with a jolt that he had been unconscious for three days already. His body automatically tried to force its way out of the dreamscape, but it didn't work. He felt his body starting to fight as if something or someone was holding him down and panic set it, but a second later he felt a soothing presence enter his mind.

He recognized his soul mate's scent immediately and clung to it. He didn't want to cry but his body didn't seem to give him a choice as he burrowed into his soul mate's side when the man appeared inside his mind. He hated feeling trapped and he looked up pleadingly at his soul mate.

A soft soothing voice eased him and he found himself wrapped up in his soul mate's arms even though the voice was slightly distorted. A feeling of peace traveled through his mind and he realized that his soul mate was trying to comfort him. Harry felt his body, relax as his mind urged his to calm down even further.

His soul mate hugged him one last time then lightly pushed him back to look into his eyes. He found himself drowning in the red eyes again, but he also felt his body slowly growing heavier as he descended into consciousness.

At first he saw red eyes as he blinked him own eyes open, but then the red eyes turned to green and he knew it was not quite the same shade as his own, but still extremely familiar and it held the promise of safety. The man seemed to be sitting on the chair next to his bed, but a glamour protected his identity.

Harry struggled out from under the blankets that held him and he realized that it had been the blankets that had trapped him. He wasn't used to blankets and the thought that someone would actually pile blankets on top of him to keep him warm, was a very strange yet welcome idea. Harry crawled into the man's lap without really thinking about it, but instinct told him that he was where he was supposed to be.

He knew that it was his soul mate sitting in the chair since he could feel his magic and his eyes momentarily widened as he recognized the bracelet the man wore on his arm, as the same one that the man named Tom wore.

It wasn't a big shock since he had expected it to be Tom, but Harry quickly burrowed deeper into his soul mate's side in order to hide his discovery. He was happy that his soul mate was Tom, but he wasn't going to reveal to anyone that he knew.

His soul mate had promised that they would get to know each other and he was sure that, that would be for the best. So he decided to keep up the appearance that he didn't know, in order to get to know his soul mate better on his own, but what he didn't know was that he had broadcasted the thought and both Tom and Severus knew of his thoughts and plans.

If Harry had been paying attention he would have felt a brief yet happy tightening of the arms around him at his acceptance and he also would have seen Severus nodding at Tom with a slight smile before he walked out of the room. Nobody else would know about Harry's thoughts and feelings until he one day decided to reveal them himself.

 _ **Thank you for reading this fanfic**_

 _ **Poll results**_ _ **\- This story will definitely have Harry and Tom. Severus will be paired with Remus and Sirius. Draco and the Weasley twins is a definite pair and Peter will be paired with an OFC. This fanfic will feature the other characters like Regulus, Hermione, Neville, Blaise and Theo as well as most of the rest. I hate characters dying, so just assume that everyone is still alive until I mention their death.**_


	6. Chapter 6 Settling In

_**The Odd Combination of Fate and Humor**_

 _Notes:_

 _Disclaimer:_

 _You know the drill already: I do not own Harry Potter in any way; those rights belong to J.K Rowling. The plot and any extra characters are my own though._

 _Warnings:_

 _This story WILL contain slash! (I know this piece has become something akin to a template in each chapter that I write, but just bear with me)_

 _This means that this story will be purely male x male slash regarding the main characters. Please do not read if you find it offensive to read about two guys kissing…etc._

 _Everyone else… please enjoy_

Key:

"speech"

" _soft spoken or seemingly vague speech"_

'thoughts'

\- _Parseltongue_ -

' _Latin words'_

 _ **Mental messages**_

 **Chapter 6: Settling in**

Harry opened his eyes and squinted a little when things seemed too bright in the early morning light. He had slept well enough and was now practically itching to get out of bed to do something. Instinct told him that he was alone in the room, but the sound of a door opening echoed around the room before he could get too worried.

He glanced towards the door and saw that it was Narcissa. A slight smile appeared on his face as she neared the bed and he could see that she was carrying something in her hands. Her mind seemed preoccupied as she placed the small object down on his bed and he laughed when she suddenly jumped in fright at seeing him awake. "Harry! You scared me!"

He laughed before answering. "It's not my fault that you didn't see that I was awake." He looked at the object on the bed and found that it looked like a very small trunk. The kind that he would imagine the mice in those cartoon character shows, that his cousin loved to watch, would use.

Narcissa saw that his attention was on the bag and she smiled. "I bought you a few clothes along with a few things that you are going to need. It's not much, but it will do until we can take you shopping for the rest of your stuff." Harry felt like someone had slapped him through the face. This had to be some kind of joke they were pulling on him, right? There was no way that a single shirt would fit in there, not even to mention a few clothes.

He didn't mean to sound picky. He really didn't expect them to give him anything, but giving him a small suitcase and saying that it held most of what he would need was downright mean. It reminded him of the rare occasions when his aunt gave him Dudley's damaged and dirty clothes while acting as if it was such an honor for him to receive them. He didn't know why his new family would play such a mean prank on him.

His expression must have revealed his thoughts, because Narcissa suddenly burst into laughter. Harry could even feel Tom's laughter through their bond as the dark haired man listened in on the conversation, but it stopped when the man seemed to sense his jumbled emotions.

Harry felt confused and hurt. He knew it wasn't his fault that he didn't know why they found the situation so funny. He also knew that they were probably laughing at the situation and not at him personally, but it was clear that they had forgotten that he hadn't been brought up around magic.

A glamoured Tom swiftly entered the room and swept him into his arms. The glare he sent Narcissa's way, quickly brought the woman out of her laughter and guilt set in as she realized that Harry didn't understand why they were laughing. Harry hesitantly put his arms around Tom's waist and snuggled into his chest.

He knew that they were supposed to get to know each other first, but he didn't care at the moment. He needed a little comfort and he was getting it from the most important person in his life. Luckily Tom seemed to understand and the man didn't even try to remove him from his lap. In fact, Harry could sense that the man was actually happy to have him on his there.

He could hear Narcissa walking closer to him and he felt her hand on his shoulder a second later. Harry could hear that she was about to speak, but Tom gently cut her off when it seemed like she didn't exactly know how to explain. "Harry, we weren't laughing at you. Narcissa should have explained that she had used magic to shrink the bag in order to make it easy to carry around."

Harry nodded slightly before sitting up and Tom took it as a sign to continue. "The reason we were laughing is because the Malfoys usually go extremely overboard…" Narcissa glared at Tom as he spoke and Harry could feel himself calming down as the humor of the situation actually sunk in.

"Don't glare at me like that 'Cissa, you know it's true." He turned back to Harry. "You can be lucky that you only got one bag of clothes. The last time she decided to go shopping, it was for me and she came back with ten bags full of clothes that I'm pretty sure will take about three lifetimes to wear. Not to mention the fact that most of the clothes are so stuffy that I feel like I'm trying to hang myself every time I wear them."

Narcissa's glare intensified, but Harry could see the humor in her eyes as she spoke. "Yes, well you needed a wardrobe makeover and those 'stuffy clothes' as you put it, is a prerequisite to your 'Lord' status. So whether you like them or not, you are required to wear them when attending a social event."

This made Harry look at the suitcase on the bed as if it was about to swallow him whole. "Please tell me you didn't get stuffy clothes for me too." Narcissa grinned evilly as she un-shrunk the suitcase. When Harry looked inside he only saw one bag and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Unfortunately he felt Tom go rigid behind him and it dawned on Harry that it wasn't a good thing. He looked back and saw that Tom had a slightly fearful expression on his face as he subtly tried to scoot backwards on his seat in order to get away from the danger that lurked in the form of a bag.

Narcissa took out the bag and held it out for Harry to examine before explaining. "This is a bottomless bag. It's really handy for when you have a lot of things to carry around and it also helps to keep your most important things by your side, just don't put anything that lives, inside of it."

Harry nodded and waited for her to continue. Narcissa started packing out small box-like things until there were fifteen of the strange objects on the bed. A closer glance revealed that the objects were small boxes and both dread as well as excitement damned on him as he figured out what Narcissa had done.

She had tricked them both into thinking that she hadn't gone on a crazy shopping spree and now instead of having ten suitcases like Tom, he possibly had fifteen boxes full of clothes that Narcissa had picked out for him. He realized that Tom had expected this when he saw the bag and he tried to copy Tom with subtly shifting backwards. He found himself pressed tight against Tom's chest and the man's laughter shook slightly against his back.

Narcissa gave both of them a scolding look before shaking her head in mock defeat. "Don't worry Harry; Draco was the one that picked out the clothes. I only went with him for safety sake." Both Tom and Harry visibly relaxed, but Harry immediately tensed up again when he guiltily thought that he was making his surrogate mother unhappy.

He looked up in order to apologize, but the humor in her eyes allowed him to see that she knew exactly why they acted like they did. Harry felt his tense body relax and a smile crept over his face as she winked at him. Her face then took on a thoughtful expression as she spoke.

"We will have to go fetch the rest of your stuff when we go to Diagon Alley, but the first thing on the agenda is the visit to Gringotts. I don't want you to worry too much about it, so I'll tell you beforehand. We plan on letting them do an evaluation ritual on you that will allow us to see what's going on with your magic and your mind. This is just a precaution, since we don't want to ignore the fact that Dumbledore might have placed a few tracers and other spells on you before he placed you with the Dursleys."

Harry frowned at the unsavory thought and Tom hugged him close before speaking. "There are a few families under Dumbledore's control, but there is one family who are currently acting as spies. We won't tell you who they are yet, since we need to teach you Occlumency and Ligilimency first, but they will be around to keep an eye out. Draco will be keeping close to your side as well, so please don't go anywhere without him."

Harry nodded and smiled. It was strange to think that he didn't have to go back to the Dursleys, but something kept nagging at his brain when he thought about Dudley and he didn't like not knowing what it was. Tom gave him a nudge and they brought their attention back to the small boxes that still littered the bed.

Harry knew that Narcissa could have easily returned all the boxes to their original sizes at once, but she seemed to take pity on him and only concentrated on one box at a time. Both men were pleasantly surprised to find that the clothes suited Harry's tastes perfectly and Harry confessed that Draco had asked him about what he liked and didn't like when they were speaking.

Since he never owned new clothes while he was staying with the Dursleys, Harry had to point out the clothes that he had seen other people wear and Draco had apparently remembered everything he had either listed or spoken about. Harry was ecstatic about the clothes and he turned towards Tom to hear his opinion, only to find that the man was deep in thought.

He touched the man's hand and the man jolted, but the smile he gave Harry, instantly relaxed him. Tom extracted himself from their embrace before placing a kiss on Harry's forehead. "I'll be right back. I just realized that I still had something important I had to do today."

With those parting words, Tom exited the room and Harry was confused when he saw that Tom had grabbed both Severus and Sirius by the arms. Remus seemed to follow them just out of curiosity, but before he could see where they were going, the door closed.

He turned back to Narcissa, but she just shook her head before smiling. "Once that man gets something in his head, he doesn't let up until he gets it." She looked around at the boxes now strewn across the room. "Shall we clean up? I guess it's safe to tell Draco that he was spot-on with the clothes he chose."

Harry nodded and then stared longingly at the door. He hadn't really gone out of the room since he arrived and since he was now fully healed, he was itching to explore. Narcissa smiled. "You're not a prisoner here Harry, you can roam about wherever you want. Just tell us before you go out of the house and stay away from the Dark Arts section in the library. As much as you might want to learn, I would suggest that you wait until one of us can personally teach you the darker side of magic and its side-effects."

He didn't really like the sound of experiencing whatever side-effects Dark Magic would have, so he nodded and proceeded to pack away the clothes. Tom had actually conjured a cupboard for him where he could place his things and it felt amazing to be able to call something his own.

Harry then decided to roam around the house before he came to an old looking door. When he pushed it open, he was shocked to see a huge library that seemed to go on forever. To the left-side of the room there was a fireplace and a warm and inviting fire had ignited itself the moment he entered the room.

He was awed to see so many books and the urge to take a seat in the comfy looking chairs in front of the fireplace, overcame him. He sat down in one of the chairs and it almost felt like sinking into heaven. A book had been left on the table next to the chair and Harry grabbed it.

When he realized that it was the second volume to the theory of potions, he happily snuggled deeper into the cushions and started reading. The book was a lot more in depth in its knowledge and Harry found himself unable to stop reading. He was about halfway through the last chapter when he suddenly felt his eyes getting heavier.

He tried to shake it off in order to continue to read, but he found that he couldn't concentrate anymore, so he placed the book down after marking his place and then snuggled into the cushions. A nap seemed like a great idea at the moment and Harry gave in to the sensation of sleep.

He was that he hadn't slept for long, but when he opened his eyes again, he felt pleasantly warm. He realized that someone had covered him with a blanket while he'd been sleeping and a glance around the room revealed that Sirius was sitting in the arm chair opposite the couch he was laying on.

The man's concentration was glued to the book, but the moment Harry moved to get up, the man set the book down and smiled before speaking. "I must admit that I'm really not into books, but once in a while I find something that can actually hold my attention for more than a few minutes."

Harry returned the smile as the man set the book down. The title read 'Pranking Pranksters' and he couldn't help the laugh that escaped his mouth. The man really was a child at heart. "So you are my Godfather?" The man nodded. "How exactly did you get to know my parents?"

The man looked deep in thought and it was a while before he answered. "I met your father during the sorting. It was clear that he came from a distinguished family and me being the black heir, I decided to befriend him. We met Remus when he was being bullied and your dad and I easily set the bullies straight before we invited Remus into our Group."

Sirius laughed at the memory before he continued speaking and Harry listened with rapt attention. "We learned later that Remus had been protecting Peter that day and it wasn't long before we dragged him into our group as well. We became known as The Marauders and since then there has only been two others that were worthy enough to take the title. You will mean the Twins soon though I would suggest that you decline anything they give you to eat."

Harry couldn't wait to meet the twins if they were as fun as Sirius described. He motioned for the man to continue. "Well, it wasn't long after that when your dad noticed your mother. Your dad and Severus had been rivals until he realized that Lily thought of Severus as her brother and whenever James accidently took his pranks too far, Lily would give him a good tongue lashing. Severus paid James back for his pranks one day when James tried to string him upside down in a tree. Severus deflected the spell and it hit James instead."

The laugh and amusement that the man emitted was contagious and Harry had to wait until he was calm enough to speak again. "James and Severus made peace that day and Lily finally accepted James' proposal to court her. Since then, Severus practically became our go-to man for potions. He claimed that it was a challenge to find antidotes to whatever pranks The Marauders concocted and that it gave him the opportunity to get further in his potions research. We didn't know if this was true or not, we were just glad to have someone that could keep us from getting into too much trouble."

The sound of the library door opening went unnoticed by both occupants until a drawling voice interrupted the story. "And you would have been expelled halfway through third year already, if I hadn't been there to cover your tracks. I should have known that I would find Harry here, since he seems to soak up information like a sponge, but I didn't expect to find you here Sirius."

Harry looked up to see Severus standing in the doorway with Tom and Remus right behind him. Tom winked at him as Sirius playfully glared at Severus. "It's not my fault that you and Remus made me allergic to books. I swear it's been years already, but if I ever see another six-inch essay again, it would be too soon."

Severus laughed out loud before smirking. "Am I to assume that you will neglect your teaching duties then? You will be expected to hand out essays after all and you will have to mark each and every one of them fairly and equally. There will be no prejudice against Slytherin's allowed."

Harry smiled at the friendly banter and his smile only grew wider at Sirius' whispered words. Not that Sirius actually knew that he could hear him while he muttered the words under his breath, but Harry clearly heard him say "How can I be prejudices against Slytherins when one of the men I love, was in Slytherin."

The man raised his head and smirked evilly at Severus. "Well then I'll just have to lessen the workload. I get less to mark and the students get less work to do." It was clear that Severus took his job as headmaster seriously because he cast a deadly glare towards Sirius.

"I would advise against that Sirius. You might find yourself staying at home instead of Hogwarts if you don't take this seriously. The students need to know how to defend themselves and we need to protect Harry along with the many other students who could be in danger through Dumbledore's misguided reasoning." That said the headmaster stormed off, clearly forgetting that there was a reason why he came to the library in the first place.

Harry glanced towards Sirius, who seemed to realize that he had just greatly angered the potions master. He looked longingly towards the direction that Severus had stormed off in, but he didn't move until Harry stood up and pulled him towards the door.

The man was confused until Harry huffed and explained his actions. "If you don't go after him now to apologize then you may have just messed up one of the good things in your life. I'm new here and even I can see that Severus has a lot of responsibilities on his shoulders. You might have intended it to be a joke, but it's clear that he didn't see it that way."

The dark haired man nodded with wide eyes before practically running in the direction through which the potions master had just stormed off in. The rest of the occupants gazed at Harry knowingly and Remus stepped forward to speak. "We were actually on our way to tell you that we are going to Gringotts in about an hour's time. The goblins have granted Tom permission to enter the bank after hours and they will do everything they can to help us."

Harry felt confused as to why a bank would help them until Remus saw his confusion and then explained. "Gringotts Goblins are against the ideals that Dumbledore is trying to spread. He believes that all races are better than 'animalistic' races and that those races should be made slaves to serve the wizards."

Harry gaped at this, but nodded and moved towards his room to take a shower. He said goodbye to Tom and Remus at the door, but instinct made him run back to hug his mate. He then turned back and ran into his room to stop himself from turning back once again.

 _ **Thank you for reading this fanfic and thank you to those who are following and favoring this story.**_


	7. Chapter 7 Trip to Gringotts

_**The Odd Combination of Fate and Humor**_

 _Notes:_

 _Disclaimer:_

 _You know the drill already: I do not own Harry Potter in any way; those rights belong to J.K Rowling. The plot and any extra characters are my own though._

 _Warnings:_

 _This story WILL contain slash! This means that this story will be purely male x male slash regarding the main characters. Please do not read if you find it offensive to read about two guys kissing…etc._

 _Everyone else… please enjoy_

Key:

"speech"

" _soft-spoken or seemingly vague speech"_

'thoughts'

\- _Parseltongue_ -

' _Latin words'_

 _ **Mental messages**_

 **Chapter 7: Trip to Gringotts**

It didn't take long for Harry to get ready and before he knew it they were standing in front of a giant but crooked building. Tom had placed a modified glamor spell on him that would ensure that not even magical objects could see through the cover. He was now a clichéd blonde-haired and blue-eyed boy. The glamor didn't change his height since no one actually knew him yet.

He had to visibly keep his jaw from dropping as they entered the bank. Severus had warned him that they would be dealing with real goblins, but he hadn't expected them to look so scary. Harry unconsciously stepped closer to Tom, who was also glamoured and the man took his hand.

This immediately made his body flush and he forgot all about the goblins. He shyly looked up at Tom and the man smirked. He realized that the man knew exactly what effect he was having on him, but Harry smiled as saw that there was a slight flush on Tom's cheeks as well.

They walked up to one of the counters and the goblin gave them one look before he indicated that they should follow him. Harry subtly glanced at his group as they followed the goblin. Tom, Severus, Sirius, and Remus had all decided to follow him, but Draco and the rest had not been allowed to come along since they were already stretching it with five people entering Gringotts after-hours.

Remus mentioned that they would have used the Floo (they had at least explained about the wizarding transport system), but it could be traced since the Floo network was monitored by the Ministry. Harry had side-along apparated with Tom to a nearby alley once they were ready to go. This was because of the fact that it was impossible to apparate directly into Gringotts ever since the goblins had installed anti-apparition wards.

They were led to an office far away from the general bank area and Harry couldn't help but notice that the corridors seemed to become gloomier the further they went. They came to a door that read "Rituals and Spells" and he felt his eyes widen slightly. Tom softly squeezed his hand and Harry took a deep breath to calm himself.

He had been slightly worried earlier, but the group had explained to him that not all rituals required the standard sacrifices he was thinking of. Some rituals only required runes to work while others relied on the strength of the witch or wizard to direct the magic's intent. They had also explained that they will most likely place him in a room with runes.

Harry was glad when they told him that they would all stay with him and that he didn't have to worry about doing anything alone. Severus had given him a brief overview of what to expect afterward and Harry knew that the potions master probably had quite a few potions stashed in his robes if something were to go wrong.

The goblin stopped at the door and knocked twice before opening it. He turned to them and spoke. "Master Silverback will be conducting and overseeing the ritual on Mr. Potter. I will request that you wait inside this room. He won't be long. Please refrain from stepping into the rune-circle in the middle. It will jeopardize the ritual if foreign magic other than those of the client were to step into the ring prior to the ritual."

Everyone nodded and they sank into the seats that line the one wall of the room. Harry had to admit that he had never seen such an amazing place before. It was like they were outside except for the wall against which the seats were lined. They could see a waterfall at the far end of the room and the water just seemed to disappear into oblivion.

The ceiling and walls looked like they were in a cave and numerous fireflies could be seen clinging to the roof. The place was well lit, even though Harry couldn't seem to figure out where the source of the light was and in the exact center of the room stood seven giant stones.

Each stone had a different rune painted onto it and each rune had been made a different color. The entire room was breathtaking and Harry found himself forgetting for a few minutes that he was going to have to stand inside the circle when the time came to do the ritual.

The door opened again and a different goblin entered the room. This one was dressed more finely and Harry assumed him to be Master Silverback. The goblin took up the spot next to the rune circle and he allowed his eyes to roam over the group until it landed on Harry.

The small toothy grin that the goblin sent his way, made him shiver, but Harry managed a small smile in return. "Mr. Potter I presume. Please release the glamour. It will interfere with the ritual if any magic is actively used within the circle. I would ask that once in the circle, you also refrain from concentrating on any spells."

Harry nodded and stepped closer to the goblin after he allowed the glamor to fall, the goblin then motioned for him to enter the circle. "This first test won't hurt, although you might find yourself having flashbacks of your memories. You will need to close your eyes and stand completely still in the middle of the circle that has been marked out."

None of the wizards liked the fact that Harry would be seeing some of his old, and possible horrifying, memories, but they all knew that it was the only way to find out what exactly is going on within his body and his magic.

Harry stepped into the circle and a low hum started echoing around him. He didn't like the fact that he was alone in the circle, but Tom gave him an encouraging smile and he nodded. Tom would make sure that the goblins didn't hurt him. Unfortunately, his mind chose that moment to recall the goblin's words.

What had the goblin meant when he said the first test won't hurt? Did that mean that they were going to do more than one test? Harry shuddered slightly, but he forced himself to stand still. With his eyes closed, Harry couldn't see the flare of light that was emitted from the runes and it looked like it was being absorbed into the young man's body.

The absorbed light exited his body again and then collided with a parchment that had been summoned without anyone noticing it. Letters formed words and words formed sentences on the parchment as the runestones repeated the process again and again.

While this was happening, Harry was having a hard time standing still. The memories that resurfaced plagued him and Harry felt like going on a mini-rampage to silence them. His attention suddenly shifted as a memory he only vaguely remembered, started to play off in his mind.

He was back at the Dursleys, but it was on one of the rare days that they had called in a babysitter to watch both him and Dudley. He had been eleven years old back then. He still remembered that Dudley had been strangely nice to him that day though. Harry hadn't realized it at the time, but now that he was watching the memories from a different angle, he could clearly see that Dudley had urgently wanted to talk to him about something.

The day had progressed peacefully and their babysitter, Miss Leona, was extremely friendly and diligent in her job, even though he could recall that Vernon had told her not to bother feeding him. He had been shocked when he had been treated with the same care as Dudley and she had even fed him the same amount too, but it was not the most important thing to have happened that day.

Harry's memories clicked as he suddenly remembered him and Dudley playing outside. Well more accurately, Dudley was playing outside with his toys while Harry just sat in the sun and stared longingly at them. His cousin had seen his look and moved to walk over to him with two toys in hand, but accidentally stepped on one of his toys instead.

Dudley had lifted his foot in horror and Harry could still remember the heartbroken expression on his cousin's face. The broken form of a husky had lain on the grass and Harry hadn't hated his cousin in that moment, but there had been nothing they could do to fix it. Suddenly it seemed like his cousin was hyperventilating and Harry had watched in shock as the broken husky became whole again.

He knew that it was one of the things his aunt and uncle called 'freakish', but he also knew that he hadn't done anything and the only explanation was that it had been Dudley. At first, he had been happy since his aunt and uncle would surely treat him better if Dudley could do the same things, but the thought disappeared in horror as he glanced up to see the babysitter standing frozen in the doorway while her face went as white as snow.

The memory progressed to dinnertime when his aunt and uncle returned. Harry had immediately locked himself in the cupboard and it hadn't been long before his uncle had ripped open the door and dragged him out. Both his aunt and his uncle decided that their son was normal and so the only explanation was that Harry had done something freakish again.

Harry mentally grimaced. He was not surprised that the resulting beating caused him to forget the day entirely. Since then Dudley had also been on a mission to prove that he wasn't like the 'freak' and so the beatings became harsher and more common from that point onwards.

He was suddenly jolted out of his memories when he felt someone grip his arm while moving to stand behind him. He opened his eyes and saw Tom looking down at him with a worried expression. Harry smiled to reassure him, but the smile changed into a grimace and he looked at Severus. The ritual was apparently finished so he could speak.

"What happens when there is someone who can do magic, but they were overlooked completely by the Ministry of Magic?" The headmaster grimaced and Harry could tell that the potions master didn't really want to answer, but he answered him nevertheless.

"Something like that is impossible since its magic itself that seeks out the children who bear it. The only possible reason for a child to be left where he or she is would be if it would do more harm than good if the child was discovered. Usually, this occurs when the child rejects the existence of magic to such a great degree that it would mentally harm the child beyond repair if he or she was confronted about it."

Harry paled and nodded before waiting for Severus to finish speaking. "The most prominent case would be if the child and his or her magic recognize that they would definitely be in mortal danger if they revealed their gift."

All eyes turned to Harry as Severus looked at him sharply. No one spoke and even the goblin patiently waited. Children were treasured in the goblin culture and it came to no surprise to anyone in the room that the goblin seemed interested in what Harry had to say.

Harry looked at his feet, but Tom softly lifted his chin. "Is there anyone you know that might be in such situation at this very moment?" The dark haired boy wanted to shake his head, but he found that he couldn't. Even though his cousin treated him worse than dirt, Harry still shuddered at the thought of his uncle finding out that his son was also one of the 'freaks'. Instinct told him that Vernon would probably kill the boy in his anger.

"The person I'm speaking of is my cousin…" Gasps echoed around the room but Harry shook his head and they all stayed silent. "Look, I'm not going to have a sudden change of heart, I'm just stating the facts. We were playing outside once and Dudley was being friendlier than usual. He even looked like he wanted to share his toys with me for the day, but he accidentally stepped on his favorite one."

Even Sirius looked skeptical at the idea of a spoiled child having a favorite toy, but Harry ignored it. "I could clearly see that he was heartbroken, but I knew there was nothing I could do. He somehow fixed it himself, however. The toy just melded together as if it was never broken in the first place. I myself knew that I hadn't used my 'freakish' abilities since it always sent a charge through my body when I used magic, but that day I sensed it from him instead."

Worried looks pointed towards him and Harry realized that at least some of them had guessed correctly at the aftermath. "Unfortunately the babysitter saw that little accident and it was reported to my aunt and uncle immediately after they got home. The…beating they gave me ensured that I completely blocked the incident from my mind though."

Even the goblin got an angry look on his face as Harry's words registered in context, but Harry continued to speak. "Dudley got more and more violent after that. Like I said, I'm not making any excuses for him since he is the reason Nagini found me in the state I was in, but I think he was trying to lock the incident away to ensure that he would never have to endure his father's beatings like I did and to prove that he was 'normal' in hating the 'freak'."

The room was deathly silent as Harry finished speaking. Not even the waterfall made a sound and it was clear that the goblin was trying to distract himself as he reached for the parchment that was still hovering in mid-air. A half horrified and half enraged shriek shocked everyone into motion and they were surprised to see an extremely pale goblin holding the parchment in his hands as if it was going to attack.

Harry felt a sliver of trepidation flow through him, but he steeled himself. Nothing could be worse than what he had endured at the Dursleys, could it? The goblin practically shoved the parchment into Tom's hands before grabbing Harry's arm and stomping off. A different door appeared in the room as the goblin clicked his fingers and Harry could count about twenty shocked goblin faces as they passed them in the corridor.

He glanced back to see his family jogging frantically to keep up with them until the goblin dragged him into another room. Tom and the others wanted to enter, but the goblin held up his hand sternly before speaking. "Usually we would charge two thousand galleons for this ritual, but I refuse to accept any form of payment." Shocked eyes followed the goblin as he made his way to Harry.

No goblin ever refused to get paid, but they understood the reason as the goblin continued his rant. "I refuse payment because only a no-good, good-for-nothing, manipulative and bastardly SOB, would ruin a boy's life by placing that many curses and restrictions upon him. The magical signature matches Dumbledore's and I hope I find him before the authorities do because there will be hell to pay and we will make sure we enjoy every minute of it!"

Harry looked around as the goblin mentioned 'we' and saw the room suddenly filled with goblins that were salivating through their teeth in anger. A parchment was being passed around and he realized with a great deal of embarrassment that every goblin now knew how weak he was. He didn't even know how they nabbed the parchment from Tom in the first place.

He had barely thought the words of embarrassment when an exceptionally large goblin placed a hand on his arm before speaking. "You are not weak and your treatment is nothing to be embarrassed about. It is them who should feel the flame of shame. The ones you once called family and Dumbledore… even as a 'creature' classified as vicious, we goblins protect our young to the death and if one of us can't protect a young one alone, then the whole clan helps. Have courage and heed my words, you have the goblin clans at your side."

Harry nodded numbly as tears fell from his eyes. He started out with nothing, but now he had a family that loved him and even an entire clan of goblins that were willing to protect him. He hugged the large goblin, much to everyone's surprise and the room emptied slowly to give them privacy. A thought occurred to him and he pulled back slightly. "Sorry I this is going to sound rude, I don't mean it to be that way since I'm just curious, but I hope you're not just doing this because I'm apparently The-Boy-Who-Lived."

The goblin looked at him and laughed. "Dumbledore tried to sell that story to us to gain our allegiance, but we refused. My name is Killerfang and I am the leader of the Savage clan. We are entwined with almost every other goblin clan in existence and in return for our alliance; I only ask that you leave us Albus Dumbledore for the many crimes he has committed against us. We will not kill him since we acknowledge the fact that many other races have also sworn vengeance against him, but I will request that we be the first to punish him."

Harry looked at Tom for help and his mate nodded. Harry turned back to the clan leader and bowed as instinct told him to. "It will be an honor to give him to you if we are the first to catch him." The remaining goblins smiled their razor smiles before leaving to get back to work.

The Goblin leader gave him a slight bow and he was left with only Master Silverback and his family. The goblin shook his head and kept the door open as he led Harry to the center of another rune circle, but this one contained runes as black as night. Tom seemed to pale and Harry realized that it probably wasn't a good thing.

Silverback looked at Harry and his family before speaking. "I apologize for the fact that your information spread so quickly. We usually keep the information confident between our client and ourselves, but a chain reaction started once another goblin picked up the parchment that had fallen in your family's rush to get to you. I shouldn't have grabbed you as I did, but as you have gathered, we are very protective of our young and your circumstances immediately brought out the protective side in all of us."

The goblin motioned to Tom, who once again held the parchment in his hands. "Most of your magic had been blocked and even your creature inheritance had been subdued. Most people receive the full creature inheritance, but you have been lucky enough to only receive the traits and not the instincts. Once I break the seals, you will find that you will have wings and claws when you need them and because of your bond to your mate, he might even be able to receive them too."

Murmurs echoed in the room and the goblin glared sternly at the occupants standing in the doorway. Only Harry saw the glint of amusement in the Goblin's eyes and he chose to stay silent. "The ritual we are about to perform might cause you great pain, and you can decide to reject it if you want to, but it will enable you to gain your full power back."

Harry felt a little scared at the mention of pain, but he didn't want any blocks on his magic so he nodded in answer before the goblin continued. "You will be weak for a few days and I would advise your family to stay close to you at that time since you will mainly have the urge to sleep while your magic adapts to its full potential. I will also cast a Goblin Guardian spell that will repel most malicious spells if they are thrown your way."

The happiness in the young man's eyes almost broke the goblin's heart. It was truly a testament of how bad people were when a child was happy being granted the simple and basic protection that all children were supposed to have while growing up.

Silverback was glad that his leader had already promised to help the boy, It made his job so much easier as he performed numerous spells and rituals to not only release the boy from his restraints, but also from the compulsion to save people and to put himself in danger. The goblin truly didn't know what Dumbledore was thinking, but it was clearly apparent that he was scared of the boy's abilities.

The goblin could clearly see that the boy's new family cared for him. They each went so far as to cast sticking charms on each other's feet since they knew that seeing the boy in pain would subconsciously cause them to run into the room.

Luckily the boy's strong magic allowed him to break through any and all blocks that had been created and the goblin smiled as the boy's family engulfed him afterward. The wizards didn't know it yet, but Killerfang had practically adopted the boy when he announced that his clan would follow him, but no one will tell him or his family about it until the time that their leader deemed it necessary.

Silverback mentally made plans to visit the Centaur herds that lived close to Hogwarts. They would help the young boy in times of danger and hopefully spread the word along to the vampires, werewolves and numerous other creatures that resided within the magical world.

The goblin glanced at one family member in particular. Maybe they didn't need to send word to Greyback after all since his adopted son was extremely close to the boy in question already. The look the werewolf gave him as he nodded, confirmed Silverback's thoughts. It seemed like the so-called 'magical creatures' of the Wizarding world were coming together in a bid to gain their rightful places as equals.

 _ **A few hours later…**_

Harry sat up groggily as he felt the arms around him tighten. He immediately recognized Tom through his energy and sank back down. It occurred to him that he could have seen Tom's true face when he first arrived at his house, but the man had apparently used a clever spell that disguised all of his previous forms as well. Now Harry was left puzzling his mate's looks, but he was unable to form any clear pictures.

A soft sound interrupted his musings and Harry wondered why he was using his mate's body as a mattress in the first place. The room smelled clean and unused and Harry realized that he must have collapsed directly after the last ritual.

He hadn't felt any pain, but the moment the rune energy left his body, Harry had been unable to keep his body standing upright. Even now he found it hard to move and Tom's chuckle caused him to glare at the man. "How would you like it if you had a few curses and blocks on you that were all being broken at once?"

The man slightly blushed guiltily and pulled Harry deeper into his arms. "If it was me or anyone else you knew, then I am sure that we would be dead right now." Tom shuddered and Harry took pity on him by hugging him close. "I can't believe that you had so many curses and bindings on you. I'm almost afraid that I'm stuck in a nightmare where I can't protect you enough."

It was a novel thing, being protected, but it felt good and Harry was determined to help others by showing them the kindness he had been shown. He might not know many people yet, but he was adamant in showing that he was there to help whomever he could, Dumbledore be damned.

Harry felt slightly guilty as he realized that he had formed an opinion of someone without giving them a chance, but then he realized that people who manipulated the lives of helpless children, weren't innocent or misguided at all and he felt his resolve harden once again.

Tom glanced at him protectively before hugging him close once again. "Severus said that he will look into the issue of your cousin, but don't expect any of us to forgive him. We know you wouldn't like it if we hexed him like we are itching to do, but don't expect us to play nice even if he has turned over a sudden new leaf."

Harry found himself giggling at the thought. Dudley turning over a new leaf… he'd believe it when he saw it, but he couldn't shake the feeling that they had to get his cousin out of the house as soon as possible. Maybe it was his protective streak, he didn't know, but just the thought of anyone going through what he had experienced, well the thought was enough to give him nightmares.

 _ **Sorry about the late chapter, I hoped you enjoyed reading it. I was kind of stuck on what to write until my brother poured me a glass of obs and told me to relax lol.**_


	8. Chapter 8 Adoptions

_**The Odd Combination of Fate and Humor**_

 _Notes:_

 _Disclaimer:_

 _You know the drill already: I do not own Harry Potter in any way; those rights belong to J.K Rowling. The plot and any extra characters are my own though._

 _Warnings:_

 _This story WILL contain slash! This means that this story will be purely male x male slash regarding the main characters. Please do not read if you find it offensive to read about two guys kissing…etc._

 _Everyone else… please enjoy_

Key:

"speech"

" _soft-spoken or seemingly vague speech"_

'thoughts'

\- _Parseltongue_ -

' _Latin words'_

 _ **Mental messages**_

 **Letters**

 **Chapter 8: Adoptions**

Harry was relaxing on a chair in the library. The book he had been reading lay forgotten on his lap as his mind wandered. It had already been a day since their trip to Gringotts and he had noticed that strange things had been happening around him.

He wasn't really scared since Severus and the goblins had explained that he might develop a few new abilities, but he didn't really know what to make of the entire thing. At first, he thought that he just knew his family so well that he was able to guess what they were doing at a particular moment when he thought of them, but then he realized that it was something completely different.

Somehow he was able to think of a person and he would immediately know what they were doing. He knew it could just be his imagination, but he really wanted to find out if it really worked. Maybe Severus would know? The moment he thought about the potions master, he found himself looking at the man while he was brewing a potion.

It was what Severus always did, so he didn't put much thought into it, but the scene gave him an idea. He looked at the color of the potion as well as the ingredients and motions that the man added. It only took a moment for Harry to realize that he was making a simple but powerful healing potion.

Harry sat up and placed his book on the table before making his way to the potions lab. He hesitated at the door, but then softly knocked. It didn't take long for Severus to call out, but Harry knocked again. He didn't want to see the potion before he tried out his theory.

He knew that Severus had just added the unicorn horn dust and that meant that the potion had to simmer for half an hour otherwise he wouldn't have risked interrupting him. Agitated footsteps made their way to the door and Harry was glad that Severus hadn't just simply opened the door with his magic.

He could actually see the angry frown on the headmaster's face and it made him grin. But the grin turned into a puzzled frown as Severus opened the door and he couldn't see himself. Instead, he found his vision snapping back into his own body and a few second later he found himself held in two strong arms as he looked up into two worried faces.

Tom had somehow felt that something was wrong so he had apparated directly to Harry's side and it was clear that the actions had forced the glamor spell to wear off because even though he felt Tom's magic, the man now looked a lot sexier. The dark brown hair and the red eyes made him stand out more and for a split second, Harry wondered whether the man was wearing contacts or using a spell that allowed his eyes to change color.

Harry knew he couldn't really explain things unless he tested out his theory first so he turned to the potions master while trying to keep his thoughts off his sexy soul mate. But the look Tom gave him, made it clear that it wasn't really working. "Sorry if I scared the two of you. Something strange happened earlier and I wanted to see if it really worked. Before I tell you what it is though, I want to ask you something."

Severus nodded and Harry reached out to take Tom's hand before he spoke. "I know you are making a potion. It is that one healing potion that becomes stronger when the dust of a unicorn horn is added and you added the dust just before I knocked."

The room was quiet for a few seconds before Severus sank back into the seat behind him. Harry realized that they had taken him into the living room and he glanced around until Severus cleared his throat. "How do you know this Harry? Does it have something to do with the way you collapsed?"

Harry looked at Severus as Tom pulled him onto his lap. "So I was right?" The potions master nodded and the raven-haired boy took a deep breath. "I was thinking about everything earlier and at first I thought that I just knew everyone well enough to imagine what they were doing at that specific moment in time, but then I realized that there was a lot more to it than that."

Both Tom and Severus motioned for him to continue and Harry nodded, but he didn't miss the wonder he saw in Severus' eyes and instinct told him that Tom had the same expression of wonder in his eyes as well. He felt himself relax. He knew they would always accept him, but old habits die hard and he'd been worried that they would think that he was a freak.

Harry realized that both men were still waiting for him to continue and he blushed. "I thought I would ask you about it Sev and the moment I thought about you, my vision kind of zoomed in on you. I saw that you were making a potion and I decided to use the potion to see if I'm actually seeing what I thought I'm seeing. That is why I wanted you to open the door. I didn't want to risk seeing the potion."

Tom and Severus looked at each other and nodded before the headmaster turned back to face Harry. "You were right about me making the potion and you were right when you said that I just added the unicorn horn dust, but why did you collapse when I opened the door?"

Harry thought for a bit before he answered. "Well when you opened the door, I thought I was just going to see myself standing there, but I saw nothing and the moment my mind registered that my body wasn't there, it kind of snapped back into my body."

The potions master looked extremely worried about this revelation, but he just nodded before looking at Tom. The brunet changed Harry's position on his lap in order to face him and the serious expression on his face worried Harry. "I want you to do something for me. We don't know what this new ability of yours is and we don't know what the consequences are for using it, so please try and control it for now. It could lead a certain lunatic right to you."

Harry's eyes widened in shock and he nodded. It was hard to keep his mind off the subject, but he still managed it somehow. Tom lightly kissed him on the forehead before holding him close. "Would you mind if we consulted the rest of the family? The more people we have on this, the better the chances are for finding answers, but we will make sure that they tell no one else." Harry nodded with a small smile. It's barely been two weeks since Nagini found him and it already felt like it had been years instead.

He allowed Severus to cast a quick diagnostics spell and nodded in relief when nothing out of the ordinary was found. "We might have to contact a mind healer if we can't find answers. A nurse at Hogwarts will be able to help. Her name is Peony Pomfrey. She works with her sister, whose name is Poppy. She has been sworn to secrecy due to her medical practice and she even cast an oath on herself stating that she refuses to give out information on her patients and if she were ever to break that oath then she would lose her magic."

Harry felt a look of horror cross over his face, but Severus shook his head. "She cares a lot for her patients and she made the oath herself in order to keep others from bothering her for information. The oath alone has made her one of the most sought after nurses in the wizarding world, but she only helps children. She has however delegated some time out of her Sundays to help at St. Mungo's."

Harry nodded in relief. Anyone who was that passionate about their work couldn't be too bad. Severus then returned to his potion and he was left alone with Tom. "I'm sorry Harry. I wanted to keep the glamor up for a little while longer, but I completely lost it when you collapsed."

Harry just smiled and hugged him. "I already knew who you were and we already promised to take things slow, so the glamor thing was kind of pointless." He grinned as Tom gave him a mock angry look and playfully shoved him.

"Hey, that wasn't nice. But I know what you mean; I was actually wondering the whole point of it myself. Hope you're not too shocked by it though." Harry laughed as Tom motioned over himself as if to show off his look.

"Nope, you are a lot sexier than your glamor though. Do you still have some work to do?" Tom blushed at the comment but nodded. "Yes, school starts in two weeks and I'm going to have to learn everything there is about the curriculum if I'm going to be teaching the Dark Arts. I know Draco has been looking for you though. I saw him wandering around in the garden."

Harry grinned and kissed Tom on the lips before the man could even think to pull back. He quickly ran out the back door to hide his grin at the man's startled face. It didn't take long to find Draco. The silver-haired boy was standing and talking with Remus and it seemed like they were pretty deep in their discussion.

Harry didn't want to bother them so he turned around and was about to enter the house again when two pairs of hands grabbed him and dragged him into the bushes next to the door. Fear coursed through him as a hand covered his mouth and he felt like he was ready to black out because of the panic, but two young voices reached his ears.

"Sorry, we don't know who you are, but could you stop struggling? We're trying to prank Draco." Harry noticed that his eyes were shut and he opened them to see a pair of red-haired twins with mischievous grins. "I'm Fred Weasley…and I'm George Weasley…Nice to meet you."

The twins let their grins fall when they realized that the boy they held was extremely scared. "We didn't mean to scare you. We'll let you go okay? We grabbed you because you almost saw us and you would probably have given away our position if you said anything. We don't mean any harm and if you want you can even join us with the prank. Just don't give away our position. We want to prank our boyfriend since he has been neglecting us lately."

Harry knew that he should probably run inside and warn everyone once the twins let him go, but there was something about the energy around them that told him that they weren't a threat. So Harry decided to see how things played out. He nodded and kept still when they let him go. "I don't know anything about pranking so I might mess it up."

The twins' grins reappeared and they leaned in closer. "Don't worry about it. We've been trying to figure out how to get Draco close to these bushes, but we couldn't come up with anything." Harry was reminded of the two men Severus had spoken of when he and Draco had tumbled off the bed. So Severus was teasing Draco about the twins? It made a lot of sense now he thought about it, but he just hoped that he was right.

"Okay, so you want me to lure Draco to this bush with his back turned?" Both twins nodded. "Yes, we won't make you an accomplice though, so you don't have to worry about getting into trouble." The fear must have reappeared on his face because both twins rushed to reassure him. "No one will get in trouble; we just meant that we usually pull off our pranks alone so no one will even suspect that you are involved."

Harry nodded in understanding, but he still felt a bit of trepidation as he stepped from the bushes. Draco saw him just as he took up a spot in front of the bush and the silver-haired man ran over. "Hey, Harry. I was looking everywhere for you until Remus came outside. I take it Tom must have found you and told you about it."

Harry nodded and subtly started to turn slightly as if he was getting ready to walk. Draco immediately walked up to his side. The blond was about to talk, but he was cut off when two pairs of hands grabbed him like they had done with Harry. Laughter could be heard and Harry looked to his side to see a laughing Remus starring at the bushes.

It appeared that the twins had spoken the truth, but Harry got worried when no one made a move to leave the bushes. A pop was heard and Harry ran into the bushes, only to see that no one was there. He knew that the pop meant that they had apparated Draco away, but before he could return to panic mode, he felt a hand land on his shoulder.

"Don't worry; the twins won't let anything happen to Draco. They just haven't been able to see each other for a few weeks. We are keyed into this place with our magical signatures, so you can be sure that those two were the real twins. Come on, I think I heard Sirius mention something about a present for you."

Harry nodded and gave one more glance back before he moved to follow Remus to another part of the garden where his Godfather seemed to be stressing about something while holding an oddly shaped package. Peter stood with him and it seemed like the man was trying to calm Sirius down.

It didn't look like it was helping though and Harry wondered why the man seemed so distraught. Harry walked closer with Remus and he could see that Peter had noticed them, but the man did nothing to warn Sirius. Instead, they just kept on talking while Harry and Remus walked close enough to hear the conversation.

"…but I thought it was a good idea at the time. It was only after I got home that I realized that Harry might not even like flying. I wanted to teach him and I thought it was the perfect gift, but I don't want to give him something he might not like. I know James liked flying, but that doesn't mean Harry would like it as well. Maybe I should just go back and get him a different gift."

Harry felt his chest squeeze as tears sprung to his eyes. It was such a strange feeling to have someone so worried about a gift for him. His body moved before his mind even registered the sensation of moving and he practically tackled Sirius to the ground as he hugged him. Remus' and Peter's laughter echoed around them as he hugged his Godfather tight before lifting his head.

"Thank you, no one has ever worried so much about giving me a gift before. Ever since I heard about flying I wanted to try it, so this is perfect." Sirius gave him a broad grin before lightly pushing him away and sitting up. He then handed Harry the present.

"It's the latest model, so it's the fastest. I was thinking that I could teach you how to ride on my broom before you rode this one." Harry nodded and excitedly opened the package, but he froze and ran his hands over the broom in reverence. The carving on the handle said that the broom was a Firebolt and Harry smiled. A slight glow settled over him and the broom as he touched it.

Instinct took over inside him and he mounted the broom without a second thought. A second later he was racing through the sky while the rest of the men looked up at him in shock. The panicked and shocked voices seemed to have caught the attention of the rest of the occupants in the house and soon enough Tom and Severus joined the crowd.

Harry looked up at the sky and decided to see how high he could go. He was oblivious to panicked voices below him until he pulled the broom straight again. He looked down and smiled when he could barely even see the house. The thought made him shiver and he grimaced when he realized how cold it was so high off the ground.

He brushed his hand over the front of his hoodie but froze in shock as a small frame fell out. Harry felt his blood run cold as the small frame with a picture of his parents, tumbled towards the ground. Severus had given it to him the day before as a way to remember his parents and he didn't even want to know how angry his Godfather would be if the frame his mother made, broke.

Without a second thought, he plunged into a dive. The ground was rushing towards him at a frightening pace, but he didn't care. The frame was getting closer and closer to the ground and all that mattered was whether he could catch it. Harry flattened himself to the broom even more and it gave an extra burst of speed just before the frame collided with the ground.

Harry grabbed the frame and sharply pulled up as hard as he could. He knew that he would probably be in big trouble for the stunt, but he also knew that it was important to save the picture and frame that Severus had entrusted to him. The thought gave him a boost of strength and it allowed him to level out the broom before coming to a stop and sinking to the ground while cuddling the frame tightly in his hands.

Everyone rushed over and Tom was the first to grab him into his arms and hold him tightly. He even saw the twins and Draco among the spectators and wondered whether he had been in the sky for longer than he had imagined. Harry winced at the look Severus gave him. To say that his Godfather seemed angry would be an understatement. Sirius, on the other hand, seemed torn between being impressed and also being angry.

The rest of the expressions mirrored one of the other and sometimes both. Tom was the first to get to him though. "What the bloody hell was that Harry?! I tell you to find Draco and the next thing I know you're doing stunts on a broom when you've never flown before in your life! Why did you dive like that? Were you trying to kill me with a heart attack?"

Harry winced and looked down at his clenched hands. It felt so amazing to fly, but now he wanted to cry. He could sense that Severus was about to say something, but Peter interrupted him softly. "What have you got in your hands, Harry? I saw something fall out of your pocket before you dived with the broom to catch it. What was so important that you had to risk your life for it?"

The calm tone soothed everyone and they all looked at Harry's hands as they realized that Harry had indeed tried to catch something. Harry mentally thanked the man for his calm nature before he opened his clenched hands. Gasps were heard from those who recognized the frame and Harry took it as an opportunity to explain.

"When I touched the broom, I immediately felt connected to it. It was like it was a part of me. Instinct told me to get on and so I did. It was like the broom was teaching me how to use it. I watched the clouds and wanted to see how high I could go, but the frame fell out of my pocket when I couldn't go any further. My immediate thought was that people will get angry at me for allowing my mother's picture frame to break, so I dived after it. I'm sorry."

A stunned silence followed his words and he looked up only to see that no one seemed to be angry anymore. Tom gave him a tight hug before holding him at arm's length. "It may have been made by your mom, but your life is more important Harry. Your parents wouldn't like knowing that something they made caused your death. Picture frames can be repaired, but we can't repair you in the same way if we lost you."

Harry nodded and held Tom close. He knew he should have thought about it that way, but he hadn't. Sirius spoke then. "Well it seems like you have a lot of talent on the broom, but next time I give you a broom, please don't take off like that. You still need to learn the finer points of flying before you pull another stunt like that. One thing I can say though is that it is obvious you have no fear of heights."

Harry laughed as the situation took hold in his mind. His new family seemed to surprise him at every turn and it wasn't hard to see that the bonds that kept them together were extremely strong. He glanced around and noticed that Severus, Sirius, and Remus kept glancing at each other when they thought the other man wasn't looking.

He knew he couldn't interfere in their relationship, but maybe he could do something to make them realize that their feelings were returned. The thought made him smile Severus looked at him and handed over a letter. "I just received this from the Ministry moments ago. I hope you will like the idea."

Harry cautiously opened the letter. He didn't know what it held, but with it coming from the Ministry, he didn't know whether it would be good or bad. He let the envelope flutter to the floor as he held the letter in shaking hands and he glanced around, but no one else seemed to know what information the letter held either. So he decided to just open it and get it done with.

 **Dear Mr. Potter**

 **We are pleased to inform you that your adoption has been approved. You are to be known in the future as Harry James Prince-Black-Potter. Your Godfathers, Mr. Severus Tobias Snape-Prince and Sirius Black, will now also be known as your adoptive fathers and they alone, will now be responsible for your health and well-being. The blood adoption ceremony will take place two days from now at 5 o'clock. Please arrive at Gringotts no later than half past 4.**

 **Please contact us if you have any further inquiries.**

 **Regards**

 **The Ministry of Magic**

Harry stood frozen for a moment before he allowed the tears he had been trying to hold back, to fall. He knew that Severus and Sirius had promised him a home, but he hadn't expected them to do so right away. It was one thing to be told something, but it was another to actually see proof that they had kept their word. "I don't have to go back to the Dursleys ever again?"

Everyone shook their heads and he couldn't help but smile as happiness took over. He looked at Severus and his smile turned into a frown. Why did it seem like Severus was unhappy about something? "Severus, aren't you happy?" The man snapped out of his thoughts and gave Harry a tight hug.

"Of course I'm happy; I've always wanted a son. There is just something else that I have to tell you, but I don't know how you're going to take it." The words made Harry freeze and he looked up at his new father as he waited for him to explain.

Severus took a deep breath. "I did go do a test on your cousin to see if he is magical in any way, but the results came back negative. What I did find, however, is that the entire Dursley family was under the Imperius curse. They have been under it for so long that they would be mindless puppets even if the curse were to be removed. The investigators are trying to figure out whether it would be better to leave them as they are or whether they should put them in a magical coma for a while to see whether their minds could be saved."

Silence enveloped everyone and even Harry found his thoughts repeating the words twice before his mind could comprehend them. "So they might not have been treating me like that by their own free will?" Severus shook his head.

"We don't know Harry. I think that your cousin broke through the curse that one time and the only explanation can be that it was your own magic that allowed the toy to fix itself. Seeing the magic might have frightened or intrigued your cousin, but we will never know since that incident has been obliviated from his mind. It seems like your cousin will get better, even though his parents might not."

Harry nodded. He didn't know what to think about the entire situation so he decided to give it more time. The rules of the Wizarding world, wouldn't allow his cousin to be part of it, but he will have to try and do something in order to ensure that his cousin has a life if he ever wakes up with his mind intact. Instinct told him that his aunt and uncle was a little too far gone to be helped, but if magic could heal with a spell, then his cousin might get his family back. He didn't need to question who the culprit was behind the curses, but he also didn't want to think about it.

 _ **Thank you for reading, sorry about the late chapter, it kind of gave me a few problems and I had to rewrite it until I was happy enough.**_


	9. Chapter 9 Preparing for Change

_**The Odd Combination of Fate and Humor**_

 _Notes:_

 _Just a note due to a comment - Harry wanted his cousin to be able to do magic so that he wouldn't be so alone, that is why his mind didn't allow him to realize that it wasn't Dudley that fixed it, and instead it was unconsciously done by his own magic._

 _Disclaimer:_

 _You know the drill already: I do not own Harry Potter in any way; those rights belong to J.K Rowling. The plot and any extra characters are my own though._

 _Warnings:_

 _This story WILL contain slash! This means that this story will be purely male x male slash regarding the main characters. Please do not read if you find it offensive to read about two guys kissing…etc._

 _Everyone else… please enjoy_

Key:

"speech"

" _soft-spoken or seemingly vague speech"_

'thoughts'

\- _Parseltongue_ -

' _Latin words'_

 _ **Mental messages**_

 **Letters**

 **Chapter 9: Preparing for change**

The days before the blood adoption ceremony took ages to pass. At least that was how it felt to Harry. Now it was the night before the ceremony and he felt torn between going to bed early and not being able to sleep at all, so instead, he opted for reading in bed.

A knock ran out and he looked up to see Tom standing in the doorway. "Hey, was there something you wanted to talk about?" Tom nodded and stepped into the room and walking over to the bed before sitting next to him. "Yes, there is actually, but first I must figure out how much you know. You've been reading so many books; even I am struggling to keep up with you."

Harry laughed at the humor in his mate's voice and shook his head. "I'm just trying to learn about everything I should have learned while I was growing up so you're going to have to be more specific." Tom smiled and leaned over to lightly kiss his forehead.

"I want to know if you have done any research on blood adoption ceremonies. I wanted to explain a few things about tomorrow, just to ensure that you aren't entirely shell-shocked if anything were to happen." Harry's gaze grew thoughtful as he contemplated Tom's words.

"I haven't read up on blood adoption ceremonies yet. I just didn't think that I needed to." Tom nodded and moved to lay back onto the bed before pulling Harry into his arms. "I like the fact you trust us so much, but that doesn't mean that you should go through it blindly. Ceremonies and rituals can be very tricky and there are some actions and factors that could seem scary if you don't know or understand the meaning behind them."

Harry's eyes slightly widened, but he nodded. He honestly hadn't thought about it in that way. His only thought had been that his family wouldn't hurt him, so other than his excitement, the rest had been ignored. Tom's words slightly worried him, but he wasn't going to allow it to stop him. "Could you tell me about the ceremony?"

Tom nodded. "It's a basic ceremony that will combine the DNA of both Severus and Sirius within you, but to do that your magic also has to acknowledge their magic. In the past, this would have been done by combining their blood and then transferring it into you while your blood was being transferred into a container. The blood was usually then donated to a place very much like a muggle blood-bank."

Harry grimaced with a slight look of fear entering his eyes, but Tom shook his head. "As you can imagine, the ritual would take a toll on the weaker wizards or witches and their bodies would sometimes reject the blood, which then resulted in death, but as I said, that was in the past."

Harry frowned. Was Tom actually suggesting that there was another, much safer way? He turned to look into Tom's face and the older man seemed to pick up on his thoughts since he laughed. "Yes, they use a different method now. Your Godfather himself actually invented the potion that allowed wizards and witches to add their blood to a potion and the child that would be adopted, only had to drink it. You didn't actually think that anyone in the family would allow you to go through a life-threatening ritual did you?"

The raven grimaced again and he shoved his mate. Of course, he didn't think that. Potions didn't taste good, but he supposed that it was much better than having them remove and replace all the blood in his body. A thought occurred to him. "What if my body rejects their blood?" Tom chuckled. "You don't think your Godfather would make a potion without the antidote do you?"

Harry shook his head then looked at his hands. "What if someone else used the potion to forcefully adopt someone?" Tom placed a finger under his chin and lifted his head so that they could look each other in the eyes. "Severus thought of that as well. Nobody, but a few family members and the top-ranking goblins know that he made the potion. The goblins lock the flasks with goblin magic and there is also a spell inside the ritual room that prevents everyone from remembering about the potion. They will be doing your ritual in a different room since Severus is the one who created it."

Harry nodded in relief and Tom kissed him lightly on the lips. "It's also against the law to blood adopt someone without the Ministry's permission and if someone were to be adopted without that person's consent, their magic would attack the ones behind the crime. To blood adopt someone, both the ones performing the adoption and the person being adopted must completely accept the bond. The ritual is a promise that is made and bound by blood and through it, they promise that they will love and protect you for as long as they are able."

Harry couldn't help but grin at the happy thought. Even though his neck still bore the tattoo-like marks of his new family, he still felt like someone would be able to take him away. He knew it was probably because he grew up with muggles, but he couldn't help thinking that the blood adoption would make sure that no one could pull his family apart.

Tom lightly tapped him on the nose and he was dragged from his thoughts. "Is there anything else I need to know?" Tom nodded and then slightly frowned, which made Harry worried. "The ritual officially starts only after you have taken the potion. You will be placed in the center of a padded circle and goblins will chant with their magic. The padded circle is mainly because you're going to be there a while and it prevents your body from experiencing any unnecessary pain such as lying on the hard and cold floor for a long length of time."

Harry nodded in understanding then froze with his eyes wide. "Causing unnecessary pain? You mean the ritual causes pain?" Tom sighed softly before pulling Harry closer to him and holding him tightly. "As much as I hate the idea of you in pain…yes, it does. Due to the fact that your DNA is going to be changed, you will find that your body will change as well. This process takes about 48 hours to complete. The goblins could make it go faster, but the amount of pain and stress it inflicts on the body would be enough to kill a person if the time was shortened."

Harry gulped then nodded. He understood the theory behind it, but that didn't mean that he had to like it. Tom kissed him again and this time Harry kissed back. He didn't really have any experience in the kissing department so he tried to copy what Tom did. He gasped when his mate lightly nibbled on his lip and he felt his body flush as Tom's tongue started to battle with his own. He started feeling light-headed as the kiss seemed to go on forever until Tom pulled back. He chuckled lightly. "Breathe Harry."

Harry felt himself flush a deep red as Tom reminded him to breathe. "You know, I would say that I just took your breath away…" The raven couldn't help but laugh at the sentence. "…but that would be too cliché." Harry knew he couldn't forget about what the next day held, but Tom had found a way to make him feel better.

"How do you know so much about muggles?" At first, it didn't look like his mate would answer, but the older man settled back instead. "I was born a half-blood and if you like, I will tell you a story." Harry nodded. "My mother fell in love with a muggle man that didn't return her love, so she slipped him a love potion even though she didn't know how it would affect him. They got married and she kept dosing him with it until the day I was born. She somehow thought that he would stay with her and love her then, but the more she dosed him with love, the more the hate in him grew."

Harry grasped Tom tightly. He could feel his mate's pain, but he couldn't do anything to stop it so he just let him talk. "It went fine at first, but as time passed he grew more and more distant. My mother didn't realize that he spent a lot of time away from home since he always worked late. One day while she knew he was out, my mom did the weekly cleaning. She always did it while he was working, since she did it with spells."

The boy could feel the man tense in his arms and he didn't even notice that tears had begun to fall from his own eyes. "My father came home early that day, bringing divorce papers with him, but he didn't even get to hand them over to my mother. He walked in on her cleaning the house and when he saw the broom sweeping the floor by itself and the dishes washing themselves, he finally lost it. The hate that had been growing inside him because of the potion, exploded."

Harry gasped as he saw the pain in his mate's eyes, yet Tom kept on speaking as if he had to get everything off his chest, even if he gave him a slight squeeze. "He choked my mother to death just as I came down the stairs. I hate myself for not going down sooner since I just assumed that they were having another quarrel. Their fights had been increasing since I was three and by that time I was already five years old, so I seemed to be used to it."

Tom hauled Harry softly onto his lap, but he seemed to be in a trance despite his actions. "I vividly remembered that time. My father moved threateningly towards me as he heard my cries and I stepped back in fear. I didn't know this side of my father and it scared me. At first, he looked disgusted by himself but in my fear, a blue shield appeared in front of me and he realized that I was just like my mother."

Harry closed his eyes, but he couldn't find it in himself to close his ears. "He stepped closer to me, but just as he lifted his hand to try and push it through the shield, someone knocked on the door. He was so scared that someone would see what he had done that he fled out the back door. I later found out that some kind of animal had mauled him and I was sent to an orphanage."

Tom smiled then. "I was there barely a week before a man with a young son stopped by. They seemed to be looking for something, but they didn't seem to find it until they stopped by me. The man took one look at me then introduced himself and his son. It was Fenrir Greyback and his adopted son, Remus Lupin."

Harry felt his jaw drop, but he stayed quiet when he saw the amusement in Tom's eyes. "Greyback knew my mother and he was about to visit her when he heard sounds from inside the house. He told me that he intended to bash down the door, but he needed to knock first, just in case the authorities got involved. The police took me to an orphanage and it took a week for Greyback to find me. He asked Remus to obliviate the minds of the muggles at the orphanage and took me to the Malfoy family where Lucius Malfoy and I grew up as brothers."

Harry smiled sadly, but Tom shook his head. "Don't pity me, I wouldn't like it. It was my mother's own fault for using a potion on a muggle and even though I can't see my father as innocent, something good came of the whole ordeal." Harry looked up at Tom in confusion and the man chuckled. "First I met Greyback, and then I met the Malfoys. I met a lot of other important people and then I met you. You somehow found me through Nagini even though I have spent years searching for you, my soul mate."

The raven found himself blushing again despite the situation. Tom was looking at him intensely and he found that he couldn't hide anything from him since Tom had already revealed most of his own life. "We already saw the handy work of the Dursleys, so I don't suppose I can say much, other than the fact that it started when I first started to do magic in a semi-conscious way."

Tom looked at him and raised his eyebrow with caused Harry to sigh. "I was four and they were busy feeding me spinach, which I didn't like. Vernon was a bully even then and he decided that I would only eat spinach and nothing else until I learned to love it." His mate seemed to see where his story was headed because he winced.

Harry nodded. "As you can imagine, I didn't like it and when it came to the third day of not eating, I saw my cousin eating fish and chips, which was my favorite and I kind of freaked since he was never forced to go without eating when he didn't like something. Now before then I only had one or two strange occurrences with my magic, but it was just minor things like a toy moving closer or my food cooling down or warming up the way I want it to be, but that day I duplicated the fish and chips and started eating happily."

Tom raised his eyebrows again and Harry nodded. "I only started remembering these things after the rituals from the goblins. Anyway, everything would have been fine if my aunt and uncle hadn't seen it, but they did and the next thing I knew, I was thrown into the cupboard and being locked in."

Harry could see that Tom was extremely angry so he hesitated to speak further, but his mate gave him a look and he sighed. "Petunia had been friendly to me up until that day. She couldn't tell her husband or her son about magic since it would sort of break the secrecy act even though she herself was a muggle." Tom looked slightly confused and Harry smiled in response.

"Like you said, I've been reading a lot of books. The secrecy act may have been created with witches and wizards in mind, but a small clause was added later on that forbade any muggle or squib family of witches and wizards, to tell the rest of the world anything about magic, if those people didn't know about it already. She thought I was a squib so she treated me like she did her own son and everything was fine until that day."

Tom frowned. "So if they treated you like normal, why did your uncle pick on you?" Harry grimaced at the question. "He's never liked the thought that he had to use his 'hard earned money' to look after a child that wasn't even his own, so he liked to toy with me from time to time by taking away my things and then giving them to Dudley. It wasn't good, but it was a drop in a bucket compared to what they did when they found out I had magic."

He started to play with Tom's shirt absentmindedly as Tom spoke. "We saw your medical history, so I can estimate what happened." Harry nodded and he felt his eyes starting to droop as his body relaxed in Tom's arms. He didn't really know how to ask his mate to stay, but the man seemed to pick up on his thoughts since he also made himself more comfortable on the bed.

"Sleep Harry, I'll stay here for tonight." The raven nodded and allowed himself to drift off. He didn't even feel it when Tom pressed a soft kiss to his forehead and covered them with a blanket. The lights went out and everything was silent.

 _ **The next morning…**_

Harry woke up to the sound of loud whispers in his room. He didn't really want to get up because he was extremely warm and comfy, but he also couldn't just ignore the voices, especially since one of them sounded like Bellatrix. The woman had kind of grown on him with her weekly visits and she insisted that he called her Aunt Bella.

He sat up slightly and smiled when he noted that Tom had held him throughout the entire night and said man was currently watching him as he woke up. "Harry!" was the only sound he heard before he was forcefully dragged out of Tom's arms and out of the bed. He couldn't help but laugh as he realized that it was Bellatrix and the woman was actually squeezing him so tight that he had to wonder where she got her strength from.

"Harry this is so great! We're going to be actual family and I'm going to be your Aunt by blood! Not that it matters whether you are blood or not, you will always be my nephew, but this is amazing! I'm going to spoil you to bits!" Harry smiled as her words registered.

"You already spoil me, Aunt Bella." The woman nodded and set him down. "Come on, you two lovebirds missed breakfast and it's now lunchtime." Harry looked at Tom in shock and the man winked at him. "You fell asleep quite late last night and you need your strength for today's ritual, so I decided to let you sleep in." Harry climbed onto the bed and hugged him gratefully before gathering his clothes and quickly jumping into the shower.

When he came out of his room, he saw that Tom had followed his example and the man was looking hot enough to drool over. He winked at Harry and the raven blushed. He had forgotten that they could now sense strong emotions in each other since the episode with their souls. A strong sense of possessiveness hit him and Harry realized that it was Tom's emotions.

The possessive feeling turned into worry and Harry realized that his mate was worried that he didn't want a possessive mate. The raven-haired boy shook his head with a grin then smiled at Tom before sending a feeling of reassurance through the bond. They sat down at the table and Harry saw that the food was already laid out.

He sat and took a sip of his juice before he looked at Tom and he almost choked in surprise. The man was giving him a smile, but not just any smile, it was a smile that made his knees weak and Harry was happy that he was already sitting down. He looked around the table in order to gain control of himself, but he blushed as he realized that the entire family was looking at him with amusement in their eyes.

Sirius seemed to take pity on him and he caught Harry's eye. "So I hope you are ready for today. We'll be going in about three hours' time so that we can get there early. We will be going under glamours to ensure that a certain bearded man doesn't find anything suspicious. He may usually be able to look through glamours, but we'll be using the same one that you had on previously."

Harry nodded. "How is he able to see through glamours?" The group looked thoughtful, but only Remus stepped forward to answer. "We do not know, but I have done some research and most of what I've found, points to the fact that he may have cast some kind of ancient form of legilimency."

Everyone looked confused at this and Severus spoke up. "I have no knowledge of an ancient form of legilimency. What does it do exactly?" Remus thought for a bit to get his facts together. "It's nothing like the legilimency of today. At that time it was a way to rip through most mental defenses with brute force and as you can guess, it leaves the receiver of the spell with nothing more than mush for brains. It was made in order to be able to gain information while leaving the victim unable to talk about anything, including the attacker or the stolen information."

The thought made Harry feel slightly sick and as he looked around the table, he saw that the rest of his family shared his sentiments. "So you mean to say that he will probably turn our brains to mush if we face him?" Harry didn't like the thought, scratch that, it scared him immensely, but Remus shook his head.

"I think he was only able to partially uncover the spell and so he devised his own form of it, which enables him to see through most glamours. We may not like him, but no one can deny that he is strong. We've been looking into where you lived when we tested your cousin and there were a lot of wards there. The only reason they couldn't have alerted him because of your disappearance is because you didn't initially intend to run away when you exited the house."

Harry nodded in understanding, but then his eyes went wide with apprehension. "You mean that there is a good chance that he already knows I'm gone?" His family winced but nodded. "That is another reason why we want to get the blood adoption done as quickly as possible." Harry slightly felt his face fall, but Draco jabbed him in the ribs.

"Don't even finish that thought. Severus and Sirius have been planning to adopt you for years. I have been told this ever since I was old enough to understand. They even terrorized each other because of it since both of them wanted to be the one to adopt you. Sirius would play pranks on Severus to get him to give up, but then Severus would pay him back with his arsenal of potions. It got so bad at one stage that they had to be tied up and hexed to talk things out and they decided then that you had to be the one to choose."

Harry looked at them in shock and the two men looked down in embarrassment. The raven grinned as he jumped up and gave each man a hug, much to the amusement of the rest of the people around the table. Narcissa then cleared her throat. "I would hope that the three of you are planning to eat soon. You will not leave this table until I am sure that you have eaten enough."

Silence descended as everyone dug into their food. No one wanted to get on the wrong side of Narcissa Malfoy and soon the elves were cleaning the table. Everyone was silent as they sat with their own thoughts until Draco turned to Harry. "I wanted to come with you today, but only one extra person is allowed in the room in order to act as a witness, so we all agreed that Tom will come with you."

Harry nodded happily then glanced over at his mate who was watching him with a strange mix of expressions. He felt the excitement, worry, and tension through the link along with another emotion that he couldn't really name, but it did strange things to his body and left him tingling. Suddenly a thought occurred to him. _**What if Tom doesn't like me anymore after I've changed? I don't even know what attracts him to me now. I'm scrawny and full of scars, would he like me even if it wasn't for the mate bond?'**_

A feeling of disbelief reached him and he looked up to see Tom looking at him with a shocked face before he composed himself. Harry thought he was losing his mind when Tom started talking to him, but he could see the man's lips weren't moving. _**I don't just like you because of the bond Harry. I like you because you are you. No matter what shape you take, I wish to always be at your side.**_

Harry looked at him in shock and Tom chuckled loudly. "It seems our bond just reached telepathic level." There was a shocked silence around the table before everyone started talking at once, but they went silent as Severus spoke. "I had expected this to occur. A normal mate bond only extends to being able to feel each other's emotions, but since you both tried to fix something that was lacking in your mate, it exceeded that limit."

The faces around the table flashed from grim to happy and back again and it was Remus who spoke again. "How did a piece of Tom's soul get into Harry in the first place?" Severus nodded to acknowledge the question then looked at Tom and asked him a question instead. "Tom, did anything strange happen the night of the attack?"

Harry could feel that Tom was about to shake his head, but his eyes suddenly went wide. "Yes! I saw something moving from me to Harry, but I didn't think much of it at the time since we were still in danger. You think that a piece of my soul went into Harry because of the killing curse?"

Severus nodded. "It's usually connected to the intent to kill and you have to want to kill someone really badly, but what I do not understand is how you accomplished this without doing the ritual beforehand." Tom shook his head. "I don't know, I just wanted to protect both Harry and Lily, but as much as I didn't want to believe it, I knew Lily was going to die and I believed that I was going to die as well, so I pushed all the hate and anger I had into the killing curse in order to kill Dumbledore, but at the same time I also kept hoping that I could somehow just keep Harry alive until one of you arrived. I didn't want to think what would happen to Harry if he took him, but I couldn't stop him."

Lucius spoke up. "I figure that means that Tom wanted to leave a piece of him to protect Harry and when they came together again, Harry was able to give a piece of himself to fix Tom's soul while he fixed Harry's in return." It sounded very strange to Harry when it was said like that and yet it seems like that was exactly what had happened.

Draco started laughing and everyone looked at him with a pointed expression. "You know Harry ***** laugh ***** unless you *laugh* find some way to *laugh* shield the connection *laugh* you two are going to hear a lot of *laugh* embarrassing things from each other." Harry looked at Tom with a shocked blush and saw that the man had the same expression on his face.

The rest of the people started laughing at their expressions and Tom glared at them before smirking. Harry just caught the words _**reditus risus scriptor**_ before Lucius, Sirius, Draco, and Peter were stuck onto their chairs and onto the roof. Harry looked up in awe as laughter bubbled inside him and he felt Tom's amusement at his reaction. _**The spell is called laughter's return and it causes those who laugh at another to be laughed at instead.**_

Harry nodded slightly before he looked at the table where Severus, Narcissa, Bella, and Remus still sat. _**Why didn't it affect them as well?**_ Tom's mental laughter echoed in his mind. _**As much as I don't want to admit it, I do treasure my life thank you very much and I would definitely forfeit it if I were to even try hexing any one of those still sitting, with my spell.**_

Harry looked at Tom with a slight sense of awe. _**Your spell? You can create spells?**_ Tom nodded. _**It's just a hobby of mine and they do come in handy since no one would know the counter curse. Many people forget that Finite Incantatum can drive away most hexes and spells.**_

The chairs slowly floated down again and Harry was surprised to see that no one was actually mad. Those who had been stuck to the roof simply promised to get their revenge with a sly grin and Harry could feel Tom throwing up a shield around himself just in case. It was extremely nice to see how a true family acted around each other.

By the time they finished eating, an hour and a half had already gone and they rushed to their rooms to finish up, or at least Severus and Sirius did. Both Tom and Harry was already showered and dressed so Harry opted for dozing in Tom's arms while his mate read a book on the couch. He knew they still had a lot of things to sort out, but it was nice to just have Tom there with him.

 _ **Thank you for reading, I would apologize for the delay, but the bookworm inside of me decided to binge read a few titles from the other authors and just when I thought I was writing a new chapter for this story, I found myself writing a one-shot instead. It won't be up yet since I must still get it done, but hopefully, it will be up soon.**_


	10. Chapter 10 The Ritual

_**The Odd Combination of Fate and Humor**_

 _Notes:_

 _Disclaimer:_

 _You know the drill already: I do not own Harry Potter in any way; those rights belong to J.K Rowling. The plot and any extra characters are my own though._

 _Warnings:_

 _This story WILL contain slash! This means that this story will be purely male x male slash regarding the main characters. Please do not read if you find it offensive to read about two guys kissing…etc._

 _Everyone else… please enjoy_

Key:

"speech"

" _soft-spoken or seemingly vague speech"_

'thoughts'

\- _Parseltongue_ -

' _Latin words'_

 _ **Mental messages**_

 **Letters**

 **Chapter 10: The Ritual**

Harry felt apprehensive as they walked to their designated room in Gringotts after arriving safely under their disguises. Half of him couldn't wait for the ritual to be over and the other half of him wanted to shy away from the idea of pain. He felt someone squeeze his hand and he looked up at Tom. The man looked just as caught between the two emotions as he was and Harry mentally thanked Remus for giving them a spell that would block each other's thoughts and emotions until they both said the counter-spell.

He wouldn't have been able to go through with the ritual if he knew that Tom was experiencing the same pain that he was feeling. The idea would drive him crazy. His mate had, of course, denied the potion until Harry had told him, in no uncertain terms, that he would have to stay behind if he didn't take it.

Not that he really would have been able to leave Tom behind, but the telepathic and empathic link seemed to lose its effectiveness if they weren't close together. Harry hoped that they would be able to enhance the distance as time passed so that he would always be able to know that Tom is alright.

Harry greeted the goblins when they greeted him, but they could all tell that his mind was occupied elsewhere. Not that they really minded since they knew that he was about to go through a blood-adoption ritual. It would have been a breach of secrecy if it had been any other wizard, but since Harry had been adopted by the goblin nation, they were entitled to know when something happened in his life so that they could protect him if needed.

No one in Harry's group knew this, but the Savage Clan was actually something equal to royalty within the goblin nation and they had only been there to ensure that the bank was running smoothly. So this meant that if Killerfang 'adopted' him, then he would have access to only the best spell-casters that the goblin nation had to offer.

Harry didn't understand why Severus, Sirius, and Tom froze when they entered the ritual room. He only saw three goblins who were dressed in nicer clothes than the rest that they have been seeing. But then Tom spoke up. "We are sorry for disturbing you, wise ones. It seems that we have entered the wrong room. Excuse our intrusion so that we may find our way into the right room."

The oldest goblin bowed slightly but shook his head. "You are not in the wrong room young one. Your mate is here for his blood-adoption ceremony and since he has been adopted by the entire goblin nation, we endeavor to only give him the best." Harry would have laughed if it had been any other situation. Seeing Severus, Sirius and Tom shell-shocked seemed to be almost picture worthy since they never seemed to be at a loss for words. But he himself didn't understand the implications.

He tried to copy Tom and spoke politely to the one who seemed to be the head goblin in the group. "Uhm wise ones, I am sorry if my words seem a little blunt or rude, I do not intend for them to be so, but I have not yet learned the proper way to speak. The great goblin named Killerfang said that he would lend me his aid and in return, I will endeavor to give him Dumbledore if we are the first to find him. No adoption was mentioned."

The goblins grinned. "We goblins are supposedly a neutral party; we do not make alliances with wizards. You must have impressed our leader a great deal when you met him since he has decreed that although you would not be his adopted son in writing, you will be his adopted son in name and this means that you require the best. You will, unfortunately, find that most, if not all of the goblins, know about you, but you should not be alarmed. We have only been tasked with keeping you safe."

Harry looked at Tom, Severus, and Sirius uncertainly. But since they all just smiled _even though it seemed like they were trying to hide their shock_ , Harry tried to ignore what he had just learned. He didn't relish the fact that he now had more people, or in this case, beings to worry about, but it was nice to make new friends.

One of the goblins walked over with a greyish potion and Severus and Sirius quickly added their blood. The potion flashed gold for a second before settling back much to the goblin and Severus' surprise. Harry didn't know what the meaning of it was, but he could guess it the way Severus was looking at Sirius was any indication.

He looked at the oldest goblin who winked at him before giving him the potion. "It seems that we can expect something interesting for you in the near future esteemed Potions master." Harry was sure he was seeing things when a light blush streaked across the man's face before he could control himself. Sirius just looked oblivious.

The goblin smirked and turned to completely face Harry. "I am going to enter the circle with you and give you the potion. An interesting fact is that the more your adoptive parents care for you, the sweeter the potion will be. I want you to finish the potion and to then give me the vial before you lay down. You may then close your eyes and try to sleep if you wish once we finished chanting since most people find the pain more bearable when they are not completely conscious of it. Another perk of having elder goblins completing the ritual is that we will be able to spare you most of the pain."

Harry both looked and felt relieved as he nodded to the goblin. He glanced at his family and saw that they were visibly relieved as well. He followed the goblin into the circle and downed the potion. His eyes widened as the super sweet syrup ran down his throat. The goblin nodded with a smile and Harry gave back the vial before lying down on the floor. He was pleasantly surprised when the floor suddenly softened to such an extent that it felt like he was lying on a bed of feathers.

The oldest goblin motioned Severus, Tom, and Sirius to a door on the other side of the room. "We know that you will be worried if you had to leave so we had this room prepared with anything you will need until the ritual is finished. It usually takes a maximum of 48 hours. You will find a magical monitor that will allow you to check on Mr. Potter whenever you wish. All that we ask is that you do not try and enter this room since it could kill him and you for that matter."

They nodded and Harry regretted not hugging each of them before he took the potion and it was clear that they were thinking the same thing as they glanced back one last time before shutting the door behind them. Harry relaxed his body as the goblins took their places and started chanting.

The chanting didn't take long and the goblins soon left the room. At first, nothing seemed to happen and he closed his eyes to try and sleep like the goblin suggested. He must have lightly dozed off since the next thing he knew was that a fire had started to run through his veins. The pain gradually increased until he had to bite his lip to keep from screaming his lungs raw. If this was what it was like when the goblins dimmed the pain then he didn't want to know how the ritual usually felt like.

Red spots started dancing around behind his closed eyes and he suddenly felt detached from all feeling. He started to panic when he realized that even though it felt like his eyes were open, he still couldn't see anything beyond darkness and red spots. A faint whining reached his ears and his eyes cleared up. He was confused when he found himself lying under a tree in a huge garden.

He looked to the side as he heard another whine and saw a huge black dog standing in front of him. He wanted to follow his natural instinct to run, but the dog dropped down with his head on his paws. Harry saw that the dog's eyes were looking at him pleadingly while another whine escaped. He moved back to sit with the tree at his back. The dog's eyes seemed to grow sadder until Harry slowly beckoned for him to come closer.

The dog yipped happily before laying down next to him and resting his head on Harry's leg. Harry ran his hand over the soft fur until a sparkle caught his eye. He looked down and saw that the dog had a nametag on. "Padfoot huh, kind of reminds me of an old legend I read about in a book." Padfoot brushed his head against Harry's leg and he laughed before continuing to give him attention.

A faint purr caught his attention and he was startled to find a huge black panther staring at him from where the dog had been. The dog barked happily and jogged over to the cat before Harry could stop him. He expected the panther to attack the dog, but the dog nipped the panther lightly on the neck before jogging over to him again.

He watched as the panther seemed to almost roll its eyes before it slowly and gracefully started walking towards him as if making sure that he wasn't scared of it. Harry found himself too shocked to be scared and he was pleasantly surprised when the panther sank down to the ground on the other side of him before closing its eyes. Harry spotted another nametag and he smiled as he read it. "Prince fits you perfectly."

He looked around in order to see if any other animals would appear, but nothing did. He knew that he should be wondering about how he suddenly found himself in a garden, but since he didn't feel the pain anymore, he thought he might at least stay a little while before worrying about a way to get back.

He looked at his companions and smiled. At least he wasn't alone in this world, he would probably freak out if he was. He felt slightly tired as he gazed around the garden. It was made out of a great variety of plants and trees, most of which he had never seen before. He looked up at the sky, but couldn't really see anything except blue skies. There wasn't even a sun or a moon.

It was kind of disconcerting, but he shrugged it off when he realized that Padfoot and Prince were looking at him worriedly. The panther got up and walked away before stopping and looking at him and Padfoot. The dog got up and pulled Harry on his hand before following the panther that had started walking again.

He didn't know where they were leading him, but Harry supposed that any place would be better than just laying around, even if he had been quite comfortable. He followed them into what seemed to be an arch made out of vines. It felt like they were walking through a long tunnel until a light alerted him to the fact that they were reaching the end. They emerged and Harry froze as he gaped at the large house that towered out in front of them. Padfoot barked and ran towards the gates while Prince followed at a more graceful pace.

Harry forced his legs to move as he followed them. The group passed a whole lot of rooms and the boy told himself that he would definitely check them out if he had time. Prince stopped in front of a set of double doors and looked expectantly at Harry, who then walked forward and opened the doors. His jaw almost hit the floor when he saw the masses of books that piled high inside a giant library, but something looked familiar though.

He walked to a pedestal with an open book and realized that it was the book he had been busy reading the previous night. He looked around and recognized, even more, titles until it clicked in his mind. "This is my mindscape!" Prince and Padfoot grinned or at least gave their equivalent of a grin and Harry smiled in relief. At least he now knew where he was and the books had to be most of the knowledge that Tom and Severus had given him to learn.

He turned back to Prince. "So why did you want to bring me here, unless it was just to stop me from panicking." Prince shook his head and wandered over to a shelf where he gently pulled out a book before walking back over and placing it in front of Harry. He looked at the title in surprise. " _A Witch and Wizard's guide to becoming an Animagus._ You want me to learn this while I'm here?" The panther nodded before patting him twice on the leg then pointing at the book.

Harry was extremely confused. He knew the taps meant two, but what did it have to do with the book? He looked at Prince. "Ok I know that your taps mean two, but two what? And what does it have to do with the book?" The Panther seemed to think for a bit before tapping twice again then pointing to the book and then itself and Padfoot.

"Hm, two, the book on an animagus form and the two of you…are you trying to say that you are animagus forms?" Prince nodded and Harry turned thoughtful again. "Does this mean that I have two animagus forms?" Prince shook his head and Harry realized that he was trying to tell him that they were not his animagus forms. So did that mean that they belonged to someone else? He knew that Tom's animagus form was a Griffin so they didn't represent him, so who could it be?

He suddenly remembered the ritual and he glanced at the two animagus forms. If he looked closely, he saw that Prince's attitude and mannerisms resembled Severus a lot and Padfoot's behavior fit Sirius' behavior extremely well. He smiled. "So I guess Severus has a black panther as an animagus form and Sirius had the form of a black dog. That is simply amazing!"

Prince and Padfoot nodded before Prince moved to take out another book from the shelf. This time it was entitled: " _Shaping your Mindscape for Protection_ ". Harry looked through the book and decided to implement a few changes since he was already in his mindscape. It wouldn't hurt to be able to keep people out, especially Dumbledore and it would help him to contact his mate more easily if needed.

He looked around the room and wondered what was happening in the ritual room. A whoosh sound made him look up and he was surprised to see a mirror showing himself, still lying on the floor in the ritual room. Green sparks covered his body and it almost looked like electricity. He looked at his body and noticed that there were quite a few changes. He seemed a little taller and his hair didn't seem so wild anymore.

His features seemed to be a bit sharper, but only slightly. Looking at himself, he was reminded of the strange ability to see people and he decided to try and see how it worked. His thoughts turned to his mate and he found himself floating in a room where Tom, Severus, and Sirius were watching a mirror much like the one he was using. He shuddered a little but tried to test the ability out further as he thought of Dudley, but his mind didn't snap to a new place.

Harry wondered whether it wasn't working because Dudley was a muggle and he decided to find someone else who wasn't part of his crest circle. He tried to think of Fenrir Greyback who Remus had dragged along to visit a few times, but still, nothing happened. He almost itched to see if he could see Dumbledore, but that thought was discarded.

Severus had asked him to not go looking for trouble and Harry didn't want to destroy that trust so he decided to see what Remus was doing instead. It didn't surprise him when he saw that Remus was talking with Peter about their upcoming classes judging by the books in front of them. He thought about Draco and he couldn't help but smile when he saw that the twins were hugging the life out of the blushing blonde.

Bellatrix and Narcissa were running around the shops while their husbands followed her in a daze. Judging by the many packages that the two men had to carry *wince*, they had been at it for a while. His family all seemed safe. The fact that he could only see his new family members with the ability, allowed him to think that it might be because of the ritual. The fact made him happy since he didn't want to find his mind in all kinds of dark places when he couldn't help it.

He made a note to himself to ask Severus, Remus or Tom about it once the ritual was finished. That way he could confirm it. He thought about Tom again and the mirror returned to the room next to the ritual room. He smiled at the three men in the room, then allowed the mirror to go dark. He looked at Padfoot who was lounging on the couch while Prince seemed to be very interested in the book about mind-shields.

Harry decided to do that first since the mind-magic would both protect his mind and help with his Animagus form. He took the book and Prince nodded his approval before jumping onto the other couch and settling down next to Harry as he sat down as well. A small whine echoed through the room and Harry couldn't help but smile. He enlarged the couch that they were sitting on to make room for Padfoot to lay on his other side.

Padfoot nuzzled him lightly before closing his eyes and promptly falling asleep with Prince following him soon after. Harry finished the book in record time and he wondered why the reading sunk so easily into his mind until he realized that the books were in his short-term memory at the moment. Once he finished the book, it disappeared and he was shocked to find that he could remember almost every single word.

He knew that the best guess would be that the information had entered his long-term memory. He looked around his mindscape. The place looked perfect and he didn't want to change anything, so he decided to just add a few protections instead. He wondered whether Padfoot and Prince would stay in his mindscape once the ritual was gone, but for some reason he doubted it.

He used to love myths and legends so he decided to make defenses by using those. His first thought was a giant maze that surrounded the manor and the garden. He imagined the winding paths and then ends with high un-scalable walls. The walls had to be impenetrable and he briefly wondered whether he should use diamond, but he canceled the thought. Diamond would be see-through no matter what he did with it since he only knew diamonds to be white and clear.

He remembered reading somewhere about a metal called osmium that was extremely strong, but it easily shattered when it finally gets broken. He wished that he could have the best of both, but then it hit him. Why not have the best of both? He could use diamond for the center of the walls to keep the osmium strong and the osmium would hide the diamond so that the walls weren't see-through.

The idea made him grin and he immediately set about to work and he closed his eyes to concentrate. Once he finished the maze, he placed a two Minotaurs in the center of it. Why only have one when you can have two? Harry smiled before picturing the garden. He had read about manticores and sphinxes from the books that Remus gave him once and so he placed a few of each in the garden surrounding the manor. He also remembered the legend about a three-headed dog that was a Cerberus that guarded the entrance to the underworld and so he created two to guard the area immediately surrounding the manor.

He knew that he had seen a lake that bordered the manor and so he also created a hydra. It surprised him when it came out looking like a water dragon since it only had on the head, but the hydra informed him that it would only grow more heads if it was attacked. At this point, he looked at the other creatures that he had created and he was extremely surprised that they all seemed to be able to completely think on their own, but they made a vow that he was their creator and so he was their master. Harry could just nod in shock before he snapped himself out of it when he felt nails lightly digging into his leg.

He looked at Princes worried face then grinned. "I'm just adding a few defenses around the manor." The panther nodded then fell asleep again. Harry wondered whether it would be too cliché to add a dragon to his mindscape, but he figured it was his mindscape so who would know unless they tried t enter without permission. He added a dragon for each of the main elements and asked each of them to guard a section of the sky above the manor.

He considered harpies, but he knew that the noise would probably interfere with his thoughts and the Echidna wasn't really something that he wanted to add. He thought for a moment more and then he realized that he could try and add a basilisk to the mix, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't get it right so he decided to leave it for now. He looked around in his mind and smiled. The place looked amazing. For the final touches, he laid down fake memories out in the open and buried his own memories deep in the heart of the manor behind a door that could only be opened by a parseltongue.

He glanced back to the mirror to see if his family was still alright and he nodded to himself even though it bothered him that Tom seemed very worried. He looked at his own body and saw that the green lightning was still trailing all over his skin, but the changes didn't seem to be very different like they were when he checked the previous time. He allowed the mirror to go black again. He had no idea about how much time had already passed and that included how much time was left.

But he could at least use his time to find his Animagus form. He read the book and once it disappeared he relaxed his 'body' and allowed his mind to drift. The book said that most people had an animal that was particular to their very soul. The animal was said to be a guardian of sorts and it was usually comprised of the soul of an ancestor that willingly watches over its descendants. That was why many people did not have an Animagus form.

The dead were informed about the secrets of the living and this allowed the oldest and the strongest of the family line to appear as a guardian in the form of an Animagus to the people who have important parts to play within their lifetime. Once the ancestor finds their charge, they may teach them their form and once this is done, the ancestor may move on to where all souls find peace.

Unfortunately the Animagus form also comes with a lot of responsibility since once the ancestor has passed on their animal, the descendant will be the one to become the next guardian of the form and so when they die they will stay in limbo to watch over their descendants until the day comes that they must pass over the animal once more. Only after this is done, can they move on.

Harry allowed himself to think about it for a moment. It made sense to him, but he wondered what happened to the ancestors who never find their charges or when their charges never bothered to learn to change. Did the information about the secrets mean that they knew what the future held and then prepared for it? Harry would like to think so since it would be cruel to leave a soul to wander around for eternity without being able to pass on.

He knew that Tom had a Griffin animagus, but the man didn't want to tell him how that came to be until he got his own animagus. Harry grinned. Maybe he could be with Tom even in the afterlife if he also got his Animagus. He didn't want to leave him just because death decided that they should part.

Two chuckles echoed in his mind and he opened his eyes and looked around him just in time to see two forms appear right in front of him. Harry jumped up in fright. The younger man, who wore green robes and who had long black hair, looked at him. "I do believe that you will find yourself with your mate for quite some time still. You have good tastes for picking someone from my house." The older man looked at the younger one in fond exasperation. He had long white hair that was tied back as well as a very long white beard and he wore a red robe.

"Salazar, your infatuation with your house has got nothing to do with his choices; Tom would be a good match for him even if he were in another house." The younger man rolled his eyes, but Harry could hear a bit of humor in his voice. "It's just a shame that goody-two-shoes Godric jumped ahead of me when he said that he would be one of Tom's guardians, otherwise I could have easily helped them both."

The older man shook his head. "Be nice to your cousin." The younger man smirked, but Harry could see absolutely no ill intent. Instead, he looked like he was fond of his cousin even though they seem to fight a lot…WAIT, SALAZAR?! Harry looked at the man in shock. "Please tell me you are who I think you are!" He had read and heard so much about the amazing potions that Salazar Slytherin made and it would be amazing to be able to meet the man in person...well uhm in spirit anyway. The pair laughed again

"Yes I am Salazar Slytherin and this great wizard here with me is known as Myrddin Emrys, also known as Merlin and we are your guardians." Harry looked at Padfoot and Prince for help, but the two (well Padfoot anyway) seemed a little too preoccupied with feigning sleep so he took a deep breath instead before looking back at them. "It is a great honor to meet two legends such as yourselves, but I thought each person with an Animagus form had only one guardian."

The two men shook their heads and Merlin spoke. "Not everyone had just one guardian, but it is very rare to have two guardians. I will explain why after we found your animals since we each have two." They walked closer to Harry and each man took an orb out of their pocket. Merlin spoke again. "Place your hand on each orb and it will show your animal." Harry nodded and placed a hand on each orb before they could stop him. An explosion went off, but no one was knocked back, but Harry suddenly found himself being lifted up on the back of something soft.

He looked down as the smoke cleared and he couldn't help but gape at the fact that he was sitting on what looked to be a black griffin and it almost looked like it was burning with a black fire. Harry passed his hand through it since he didn't feel any pain and he realized that it wasn't fire, but smoke or shadows. He looked down just in time to see the two men composing themselves before Merlin muttered. "We have to change that wording, it is clear that it confuses the descendants into placing both hands on the orbs if they have two ancestors instead of just placing one hand on each orb separately."

Salazar looked at Merlin. "I don't know, it kind of suits him." The older man nodded before looking at Harry. "You and your mate seem to be really similar in these aspects you know. Tom placed his hand on both my orb and Godric's when we told him to do it and that is also how he ended up as a Griffin. He is a lion merged with a fire phoenix and thus he has power over fire. You, however, have a shadow panther merged with a phoenix and the shadows took over the Phoenix form in order to give you extra abilities. I am very sure that you can hide in the shadows now."

Harry looked up at them and nodded, before almost giving in to the urge to gape further. Salazar and Merlin looked at him and Salazar spoke. "We will be around until you can fully master your Animagus form, so don't hesitate to call on us." Harry nodded and watched them disappear before turning to the shadow Griffin.

"Shall we finish the transformation here?" The Griffin sent out a cry and stepped closer. Harry tried to determine what was going to happen, but the transformation acceptance bond was different for a lot of people. Instead, he decided that instinct told him to walk towards the griffin and so he did. The Griffin suddenly burst into a black flame and flew towards his heart, but he felt no pain as it entered him. If he had to be honest, it actually felt like being safe.

He felt his body warm up and suddenly he was on all four legs and he was the shadow Griffin. He concentrated on his human form and changed back. It made him grin that it was so easy so he shifted back and forth a few more times. He then bounded to the mirror in his human form. He wanted to check up on Tom for some reason.

He activated his ability and was shocked to see that Tom, Severus, Sirius and the goblins were anxiously watching him from the room. One of them had a tempus activated and he was even more shocked to see that he had already been out for four days instead of the two that they had expected. He itched to comfort Tom and his new fathers so he pressed his hand to the glass and the men froze as if they felt his touch. Harry was bewildered to find that he could actually touch his mate and his fathers through the mirror.

Tom said something but he couldn't hear him and it frustrated Harry, suddenly he could hear the voices of the people in the room and they were all distressed that he wasn't waking up. They all knew that they couldn't enter without harming both him and themselves so they refused to risk it. Harry thought for a moment then willed his magic to allow them to hear his voice like he heard theirs.

"Hey, it is okay, I'm fine. I just got so carried away in my mindscape while I was waiting for the ritual to end that I forgot that I had to will myself out instead of trying to find a way." The occupants of the room looked everywhere to locate where the voice was coming from, but they found nothing.

Harry cast a gaze back at his body in the ritual room and he saw that the green lightning had completely disappeared. He looked at the people he cared about then spoke. "Listen I'm going to try and wake up now, so please stop worrying. The entire group, even the goblins, agreed skeptically and Harry sighed with an exasperated smile before kissing Tom on the head through the mirror and willing himself awake.

 _ **Thank you for reading, it took longer, but I also made the chapter a bit longer so I hope you all enjoyed it.**_

 _ **I only have one question for those that read this part: Draco, Harry, and Severus or just Draco and Harry? This is for a One-shot I am working on.**_


	11. Chapter 11 The Move

_**The Odd Combination of Fate and Humor**_

 _Notes:_

 _Disclaimer:_

 _You know the drill already: I do not own Harry Potter in any way; those rights belong to J.K Rowling. The plot and any extra characters are my own though._

 _Warnings:_

 _This story WILL contain slash! This means that this story will be purely male x male slash regarding the main characters. Please do not read if you find it offensive to read about two guys kissing…etc._

 _Everyone else… please enjoy_

Key:

"speech"

" _soft-spoken or seemingly vague speech"_

'thoughts'

\- _Parseltongue_ -

' _Latin words'_

 _ **Mental messages**_

 **Letters**

 **Chapter 11: The Move**

Harry looked at the two Animagus forms and nodded as they faded while his mind took the time to wake up. He grimaced as numerous aches and pains flooded his body, but it was minor compared to what he had experienced at the start. He opened his eyes slowly and he barely had enough time to sit up before he was surrounded by the goblins and his family.

Sirius looked like he wanted to grab him in a bear hug but both Severus and Tom stopped him. "He just went through a ritual Sirius; his entire body must be enough pain already without you attempting to add to it." The man scowled before looking worriedly at Harry and he couldn't help but smile. He slowly stood up with the help of Tom and he couldn't help but laugh. "See, I told you that I was going to wake up."

He looked around as everyone froze and Severus was the first to break free of the shock. "So that had something to do with your new ability?" Harry nodded. "Yes, that's the only explanation I have and I figured out that it only works with the people who were selected as my family. I can't do it with anyone else." Both Severus and Tom sighed in relief.

Tom softly hugged him. "I am glad that you don't run the risk of seeing things that you don't want to see." Harry saw one of the goblins walk to the door that opened to the hallway where he could see another goblin waiting. "Mr. Prince-Black-Potter is done with his ritual. Please inform his family so that Lady Narcissa will be able to check him over. I will lead the group to the silver room." The other goblin ran off and Harry found that he wasn't really surprised that the goblins understood the family ritual that had taken place.

The goblin then looked towards the group and they nodded to indicate that they are following him. He led them to a room that was only a few doors down and Harry had to consciously keep his mind from gaping. The room had actual silver floors. A few black couches had been placed around the room and a bookcase filled the far end of the room. A fireplace had been built into the bookcase and food and drinks had been placed on a table in one of the corners. The walls were green with a thin strip of black and silver that framed it on every side.

He looked at the goblin who was smirking because of their reactions. "We would have made the room gold, but unfortunately it would have blinded everyone who set a foot into it so we remodeled it after the Slytherin house colors." Sirius pouted and Harry laughed. It was clear that the man really liked Gryffindor. Tom and Severus seemed like they wanted to tease the poor man a bit, but hurried footsteps interrupted their intended banter.

Narcissa entered the room in record time before she softly dragged him into a hug. "Are you alright? Are you feeling ok? Were there complications? Why did it take so long? Answer me while I quickly check you over." Harry laughed and nodded. The pain in his body was going away anyway. "I am good and I feel great. There were no complications, I just got caught up in my mindscape and lost track of time." She nodded happily and Harry looked up to see that Lucius and Draco were also there. Harry smiled at them and they smiled back.

His gaze landed on Tom who winked at him before indicating that he had something to say. The room fell quiet and the goblins left the room to give them some privacy after stating that they were free to use the room for as long as they needed to. He dragged Harry into his arms before he spoke and Harry willingly threw his arms around his mate in return.

"The castle is ready and I think it would be better if we were to move in there as soon as possible. The twins have indicated that Dumbledore has been sniffing around our houses and it's only a matter of time before he does something. The Weasleys and the Longbottoms will be removed from their spy-duty and they will be joining us there." The group nodded and Tom took out a stack of papers to give to each group.

Narcissa nodded. "Draco has warned us a day ago and we have seen to it that everyone is packed. Remus and Bella have already seen to it that your stuff is packed as well." Tom, Severus and Sirius nodded their thanks and Harry smiled. His mate then started handing out the papers and the Malfoys left to apparate to the castle. Severus gave Tom the counter-potion so that he could sense Harry again and then led the rest of them to the apparition room.

Harry slightly stumbled as they landed, but Tom held him steady. The man walked to the gates and registered the signatures of those who were present. Harry gaped as he saw the enormous garden, but then he frowned. The place looked a lot like the place within his mindscape and he looked back at Tom who smirked before he bent down and lightly brushed his lips over Harry's. "I wanted you to be the first to see it."

He smiled as a giddy feeling rose up in him and nodded in return. Tom then turned to Severus and Sirius. "I have made both of you the secret keepers of this place. Would you mind giving the papers to the rest of our group?" The two shook their heads and hugged Harry before taking the slips of paper and apparating away. Harry felt slightly empty due to the fact that his new fathers didn't seem to be happy that he was now their son, they hadn't said anything about the ritual or whether or not he looked ok to them. He knew that he was being unfair and yet he couldn't keep his old fears from returning, but Tom hugged him before looking at him sternly.

"Don't you dare think that they aren't happy to have you as their son. They are ecstatic about it and the only thing that is keeping them from showing this to you is the fact that they first want to get their friends and family out of danger." Harry smiled in relief and nodded. He could understand that, but it made a new worry appear and Tom shook his head then motioned for Draco to come closer, which he did.

"Draco, there's a Quidditch pitch at the back of the building. Do you feel like giving Harry another flying lesson?" Both boys smiled at the thought and nodded before running off. Tom had just enough time to shout out a "be careful" after them before they rounded the corner.

They flew for a while and Draco taught Harry everything about the rules of Quidditch before they started playing. Three hours passed by quickly and they decided to come down. Both boys headed to the showers that were located next to the pitch. It was completely dark by the time they entered the castle and they followed the sound of numerous voices until they came to a door. Harry slowly opened it and he felt his mouth drop open in shock before he was grabbed into a tight hug by Bellatrix.

"Hey, Harry you finally made it! We would have sent out an army to find you if we hadn't noticed that you were flying around at the Quidditch pitch. Welcome to your adoption-day party." Harry felt himself blush as he noticed that there were a lot of new faces. Tom made his way over and stole him from Bella's arms before hugging him as well. "Everyone is here except for Peter and his girlfriend, but he told us that he will be here shortly."

Harry nodded and smiled as Tom introduced him to the Longbottoms and the rest of the Weasleys. He really hadn't expected them all to have red hair, but they did. Nobody seemed to want to smother him into getting to know them and for that, he was very grateful. The party didn't drag on for very long before most of the families excused themselves. He realized that they all knew that he had been through the blood-adoption ritual when he heard Mrs. Weasley telling Tom to make sure that they all got enough rest.

A shy boy trailed after the group and kept looking back at him. Harry couldn't figure out what the boy wanted until the twins rolled their eyes and dragged him back towards Harry before speaking. "Harry, this is our brother…Ronald Bilius Weasley. He has been a fan of yours…since forever and he really…wants to be your friend. He has not had much time…to make friends other than Draco…so could you please…put the poor boy out of his misery…and become his friend? You can call him Ron."

Harry couldn't help but laugh when he saw that the boy's face was red with anger and embarrassment. The boy anger turned to hurt and Harry quickly put up his hands. "Sorry I wasn't laughing at you; it's just nice to see how much your brothers care for you. I've never had any siblings so it's just nice to see how close you are to one another."

The twins suddenly turned towards him and he was surprised to see that they almost looked angry. He took a step back as he felt fear well up inside him even though he knew that the twins wouldn't harm him. He didn't have any time to dive away as the twins each grabbed one of his arms before turning to Ron. "We have changed…our minds Ron. You will not have…the privilege of being his friend. Instead, he will have the privilege…of being our brother…and that includes…the right to prank him…whenever we want to...as punishment for letting…himself think that…blood family…is the only family…that he can have."

The twins had barely finished speaking before Harry found himself sporting a red polka dot robe with golden spots. He couldn't help but laugh when they turned on Ron as well before giving him a green robe with silver polka-dots. He thought it would end there but the twins turned to each other and simultaneously cast the same spell on each other. Fred ended up with a blue robe with bronze polka-dots and George ended up with a yellow robe with black polka-dots.

They looked at each other and burst out laughing at how ridiculous they looked then Fred turned back to Harry after canceling the spell. "Seriously though Harry, Draco thinks of you as a brother and he would be heart-broken if he heard that you didn't feel the same." Harry smiled and nodded. "I do feel the same; I just didn't think that it was ok to feel that way."

George smiled at him. "Well, now you know." Harry was about to answer them when a stab of pain abruptly ran through his body and he would have collapsed onto the floor if Ron hadn't caught him. Fred quickly conjured a couch before running off to call someone. Ron placed him on the couch as another stab of pain occurred and he felt himself wondering what the source of it was before he was dragged into what seemed to be a vision.

The crests around his neck burned and it felt like they were rearranging themselves. He tried to look at them, but it was not possible so he tried to relax through the pain. The next thing he knew, Harry found himself floating near someone who seemed to have been knocked back into a wall with a spell before a muttered ' _crucio_ ' drew Harry's attention to an old bearded man standing in the center of the room next to the body of a woman. Harry wanted to float closer, but it felt like every nerve in his body was being singed so he tried to figure out where the pain was coming from.

The man writhed under the spell and it angered Harry that someone would actually use magic to hurt others. He pushed the old man with as much strength as he could before he grabbed the girl and placed a hand on the man he now recognized as Peter. He willed them to leave the house with him and with a crack that sounded a lot like someone apparating, they disappeared. Harry found himself back in his own body and he forced himself to stay awake long enough to see that both Peter and the women had made it before he passed out.

 _ **Two hours later…**_

Harry woke to the sound of frantic whispering and he groaned. His body seemed to really hate him for taking such a risk so soon after the ritual. He opened his eyes and saw a whole group of worried faces surrounding him before Narcissa's voice rang out. "Out with the lot of you! You can see him after I have done a few tests." Grumbled voices echoed through the room, but Narcissa only allowed Tom, Severus and Sirius to stay if they were going to stay quiet. Otherwise, she would chase them out like she did with the rest.

Harry winced at the exasperated stern look that Narcissa was giving him as she checked him over with a few spells and he tried to take the chance of possibly softening her anger and worry. "Is Peter and the woman alright?" Her eyes narrowed even further before she finished her spells and sat on the bed next to him. "What were you thinking Harry? I don't know how you did what you did, but it looked like someone had actually put you under a few rounds of the Cruciatis curse. How is that possible?"

Harry winced. "I don't know. I was busy talking with Fred, George and Ron when I suddenly collapsed in pain. I wanted to find the source and the next thing I know is that I'm in a room and Peter is being cursed by an old bearded man while a woman lay unconscious at his feet. I just reacted without thinking and I pushed the man away before grabbing onto them and trying to get them here. Then I passed out. I don't know how I was able to see Peter since he wasn't actually part of the rune-circle."

Narcissa nodded then looked at Severus, who took it as his cue to speak. "You have gotten close to Peter in the last few days so I think that the only reason the rune hadn't been added before, was because your magic didn't see the need to do it. You told me earlier that you checked up on all of us right?" Harry nodded. "Well, that means that your magic was able to trace Peter from when you watched him and Remus."

His face grew tense and Harry felt the other people in the room tense as well as he spoke again. "The old man you saw was Dumbledore and he had apparently used Peter's girlfriend to be able to enter the house. He then knocked her out before he tried to torture Peter for information, but Peter didn't want to give it. He says that Dumbledore had just started using the Cruciatis curse on him when something shoved the man and both Peter and his girlfriend, Liana, we forcefully apparated into the castle."

The silence stretched out as Severus finished speaking and Harry tried to let the information sink into his mind before he turned to Sirius. "Are they alright at least?" Sirius nodded. "They were actually in a much better shape than you were. Peter didn't have any curse damage on him, but it was visible on your own body instead. We have all spoken and we have agreed that it isn't safe for you to use your ability until we know exactly how it works and how you were able to absorb Peter's pain into yourself rather than letting him feel it."

Harry nodded in acceptance. Nobody would like the feeling of being cursed after all and he didn't want to worry his family any more than they already were. He looked at Narcissa. "Can I get up now? You haven't mentioned that there was something wrong with me." She shook her head. "I might not have found anything wrong, other than the damage I already fixed, but your body needs time to settle after the ritual so I am going to give you something to make you sleep. You will be free to do whatever you want once you wake up tomorrow."

Harry sighed. He didn't like it, but he would accept it. Narcissa gave him a small smile before leaning over and kissing his head, then leaving the room after handing the potion to Severus. The three men sat down on his bed and they talked a while about the school before Sirius tucked him in and bid him goodnight. Severus gave him the potion and kissed his head before following Sirius out.

He didn't really want Tom to leave, but he allowed it as Tom moved closer to him and kissed him goodnight. Yet instead of moving to leave the room, Tom laid down next to him. The man chuckled as he saw Harry's surprised expression and he dragged the boy into his arms. "I'm staying here to make sure that you rest and I will be making sure that nothing else happens tonight." Harry smiled happily and snuggled into the man's side before swiftly falling asleep.

 _ **The next morning…**_

Harry woke slowly, but he didn't really feel like moving anytime soon. He felt warm and comfortable so he closed his eyes again, but a chuckle alerted him to the fact that he wasn't alone in his bed. He opened his eyes and turned his head to find that he was practically draped over Tom and the man was watching him with an amused expression.

This caused him to blush a bright red and he buried his face in his mate's shoulder which earned him another chuckle. "Come on Harry, we need to get up. School starts in three days and we need to go get your wand and the other things you will need." Harry jumped up in excitement, but then his excitement dimmed. "What if I'm not ready? I know everyone has been teaching me stuff, but what if I don't understand something?" Tom shook his head fondly.

"We have taught you everything you need to know so far and you have excelled in practically everything. If you do come across something that you do not understand then you can ask one of the teachers or your friends or you can even go do some research in the library. Now get up, we've slept in a bit so I expect your fathers will be coming up to check on you soon." Harry smiled and nodded before he got up and went to take a shower.

He had barely finished getting dressed before Severus, Sirius and Remus entered the room. Tom excused himself to take a shower and the three men took a seat on a long couch that had been placed in front of the window overlooking the gardens. Harry had to keep himself from smiling as he saw the way that the three men kept glancing at one another. He practically itched to get them to notice that the other two felt the same, but he also knew that it wouldn't be smart to interfere. The men had to sort it out for themselves.

Severus cleared his throat to gain Harry's attention. "I won't be able to go with you today since we will all need to go to Hogwarts to get ready for the new year. Narcissa and Bella will be taking you to Diagon Alley along with Draco. The Weasleys and the Longbottoms need to lay low for a while, but they have already gotten the things they need." Harry nodded then froze. "Does that mean that I will only see everyone in three days?"

Remus shook his head. "No, you will be coming to Hogwarts after you got your things." Sirius nodded. "We feel bad that you will be missing the train ride and your first real look at Hogwarts, but it would give Dumbledore too many opportunities to strike. So we have talked with the parents of the other students that you already know and they will be staying there with you." Harry grinned in excitement. He was finally able to see the school that everyone seemed to love so much.

He was a little sad that he wouldn't be able to have the full experience, but he knew that his parents were just looking out for him. He was also very excited about the fact that he was finally going to get his wand. It might feel strange at the beginning, but he knew that he would get used to casting with it.

Harry smiled and decided on impulse to hug his fathers (he also hugged Remus since he was technically his father too). "Thank you for caring about me." He could see that Severus was about to give him a stern lecture about why he shouldn't have to thank them for loving him, but Sirius swiftly silenced the man and pulled Harry onto his lap.

"I know that you are technically too old to be sitting on anyone's lap, but just bear with me for a second. We have loved you since the day you were born and nothing is going to change that. You are our cub and we don't care what anyone else says, you will stay our cub forever. And because we love you so much, we want you to stay safe." Sirius and Severus nodded to Remus, who took out a thin bracelet decorated with emeralds.

Remus smiled as he placed the bracelet on Harry's arm. "This bracelet is a portkey that will only activate once you place real intent behind it. A friend of mine is part of the Unspeakables and they assured me that it would get you out of any building no matter how warded it is. But the magic will only work once since it will probably use everything it has in order to take you away from a dangerous situation. The clasp is charmed so that only the wearer can take it off."

Harry looked at the bracelet in awe then turned back to his fathers. "What if one of you needed it? Would it take me to you?" Severus smiled and nodded before regaining his stern face. "It would, but we would be extremely sad if you tried to risk your life for ours. That portkey is there to keep you safe. We have our own ways to get out of trouble and not just anyone would be able to beat us in a duel. When something happens, concentrate on getting yourself and those closest to you, to safety. It would make our job a lot easier."

He didn't really like it, but he nodded. He didn't want to disobey them, but his body sometimes had a mind of its own when it came to saving people. Sirius smiled and released him before the men stood up and left the room, but Remus peaked back in. "Narcissa told us to tell you that dinner was ready." Harry nodded and followed them, only to gape when he saw the huge table full of people. He looked at Tom who was coming over and the older man clearly saw his panicked expression. He took Harry's hand and pulled out a chair for him next to his own before sitting down.

"Don't worry Harry, you met everyone last night." Harry nodded and shyly dished up his plate since it felt like everyone was watching him. He found out that he was right when Narcissa cleared her throat and gave everyone an angry look. "I would appreciate it if Harry could be allowed to eat without everyone staring at him and making him uncomfortable. Show some manners here for petty sake."

Her words shocked a whole bunch of people out of staring and they quickly jumped to apologize. A boy who seemed to be about his age sat across from him at the table and even though he seemed too shy to speak, he forced himself to say his piece anyway. "Hi, I'm Neville Longbottom. I uh was too shy to introduce myself last night so you only met my Gran. I'm sorry for staring, I just wanted to talk to you, but I didn't know what to say since I don't know any of your interests. I know you like flying but I can't talk to you about that because I'm bollocks at it and almost everything else it seems."

The boy blushed as almost all eyes turned on him, but instead of glaring at the boy as Harry had expected, he found that the people were giving him grateful smiles. It seems like almost everyone had felt the same way and Harry sighed. He knew it meant that they had probably heard about how he came to be there too, but he saw absolutely no judgment in their faces and that made him feel better. He turned to the boy with a slight smile in a hope of making Neville relax a bit.

"Well, I also enjoy reading, potions and gardening. Peter has been showing me around the greenhouses and I've been learning a little about the magical plants that grow in the wizarding world." The boy brightened up immediately and he began talking about the properties of some flowers that Harry has never even seen or heard of before. He grinned at the boy's enthusiasm and he realized that he may have just found a new friend. He could see that Tom and the rest of his family was watching their exchange with amusement, but he didn't mind.

Half an hour later they had all finished eating and Harry was practically bouncing up and down his seat in order to get going. The two women just laughed as Narcissa checked him over and Bellatrix hovered around him. Tom and his fathers had already said their goodbye directly after breakfast and Harry was trying to stifle the fear of being away from Tom, with the idea of getting his wand. Draco was hovering around him protectively and Harry couldn't help but think that it was nice to have a brother who cared. He winced as he imagined the twins reaction to that and they appeared as if they had been conjured by his thoughts.

"Now Draco, please take care…of our little brother and you better keep…yourself safe as well. We will all be waiting…for your arrival at Hogwarts…so please don't take too long. Otherwise, …we might have to sneak…away and look for you." Draco just shook his head with exasperated fondness and Harry couldn't hide his smile as a warm feeling welled up inside him. Threesome relationships were probably frowned upon in the muggle world, but here it seemed to fit. Draco had enough calm to slow the twins down a bit and the twins had enough energy to make sure that Draco didn't just disappear into a potions lab.

The thought made him think of his fathers and he thought of how they would fit together. In a way, most people would think that Severus and Sirius would never fit together and Remus seemed to be the one that perfectly fit in between the two explosive personalities. But many people forgot that Sirius served to bring Severus out of his isolation and Severus managed to calm Sirius down enough to think things through. Yet it was possible that their relationship wouldn't be possible if Remus wasn't there since he could perfectly grant an insight into both worlds and keep the peace in the process. Remus would also be able to enjoy the hobbies of both men since they coincided with his own.

Meanwhile, the Severus served to sate Remus' academic side while Sirius served to play along with his more mischievous side. They were actually a perfect fit. Narcissa softly nudged him and alerted him to the fact that they were on their way to go shopping. They showed him the exact way to floo, but Bellatrix went with him and when they ended up in Knockturn Alley instead, she just gave a flick of her wand to make way for them before they met up with Draco and Narcissa, who vowed to show him the correct way to use the Floo network.

They visited Madam Malkin's shop for robes and then Borgin & Burkes for books. Harry wanted to go into the Magical Menagerie, but Narcissa took him and Draco for their wands instead while Bellatrix wandered off. Ollivander was a strange old man, but he set him up with an 11inch Holly wand with a phoenix feather core. Narcissa's gasp intrigued him and he was surprised to find out that Tom had the twin feather of his own wand.

With this information, Harry somehow felt a lot closer to Tom and he felt a rush of heated acknowledgment as the wand accepted him. They quickly breezed through the rest of the shops before Narcissa mentioned that it was time to go home. Harry frowned as he looked at his list since it said that he needed an owl, a cat or a toad as a familiar, but he didn't dare interrupt Narcissa when she seemed to be on a mission.

They headed back to the Leaky Cauldron to Floo and Harry wondered where Bellatrix was, but Narcissa calmed him down before they headed back to the castle. He realized that the group must have planned something and he dreaded to know what it was, but suddenly a hissing sound filled his ears along with the hoot of an owl and he turned to see a snowy white own in a cage and a snake wrapping itself softly around the edges on the cage as protection.

He looked at his family who seemed to appear out of nowhere and most of them smiled in amusement as they watched him. "Good luck Harry, this is just a little gift to ensure that you will be protected at all times and it will enable you to send us messages whenever you want. Harry could see the tears in Bellatrix and Narcissa's eyes so he held them tight until they escorted him to Hogwarts. One glance was enough and Harry immediately fell in love with the place as a half-giant escorted him and Draco into a boat and over the lake.

 _ **Thank you for reading, I hope this update was up to standard.**_


	12. Chapter 12 Hogwarts

_**The Odd Combination of Fate and Humor**_

 _Notes:_

 _Disclaimer:_

 _You know the drill already: I do not own Harry Potter in any way; those rights belong to J.K Rowling. The plot and any extra characters are my own though._

 _Warnings:_

 _This story WILL contain slash! This means that this story will be purely male x male slash regarding the main characters. Please do not read if you find it offensive to read about two guys kissing…etc._

 _Everyone else… please enjoy_

Key:

"speech"

" _soft spoken or seemingly vague speech"_

'thoughts'

\- _Parseltongue_ -

' _Latin words'_

 _ **Mental messages**_

 **Letters**

 **Chapter 12: Hogwarts**

After the boat ride, Harry and Draco went to pack away their things. The adults had decided to give the teens their own room, but Harry didn't really feel comfortable with the fact that he had to be so far away from Tom. His new friends understood perfectly and Draco helped Harry to carry his packages to the Dark Arts classroom where he assured Harry that there was a secret passage into Tom's living quarters.

Tom had either expected his decision or read his mind about it because he opened the door for them before they could even knock at the classroom door. He smiled and pulled Harry into a hug before showing them to his quarters. He showed them to a guest bedroom and Harry couldn't help but smile.

Except for the few nights that he needed Tom for comfort, the man had actually been extremely adamant about not doing anything until he was out of school and they were married so they mostly slept apart. It did make lot of sense to Harry even though it frustrated him sometimes as well since it was so easy to get used to waking up next to a warm body. At the moment though, he was too busy dealing with the fact that he hadn't quite gotten used to people worrying about him and caring for him, so it mostly took the forefront of his mind.

Harry was surprised to see that the room had already been decorated for him and he turned to Tom, who shrugged sheepishly. "I knew that I was going to need a room for you. Luckily most of the students won't know if you stay behind in the classroom because very few people know about the fact that each classroom has a hidden passage to the teacher's rooms."

Harry smiled and nodded, but then he frowned. "I probably won't be able to kiss you or hold your hand when school starts, will I?" Tom smiled and pulled him into his arms once again and Harry saw out of the corner of his eye that Draco just shook his head with a smile and left the room to give them some privacy before he turned his full attention back to Tom.

"Harry, we are mates so there will be no restrictions, but we would have to at least keep it out of the public eye. We aren't planning on telling the public everything and so it will look strange if a teacher were allowed to date a student when the school rules clearly state that they are against it. Only mates have that privilege, but like in our current situation, the rules state that the couple should not flaunt their relationship in front of others."

Harry nodded in understanding and Tom lifted his chin to give him a chaste kiss before he grabbed Harry's hand. "Come on, I have something to show you." Harry smiled and nodded as he followed Tom up some stairs and down a multitude of corridors. He could clearly see by the sideways glances Tom was giving him, that the man knew he had Harry on the edge with curiosity.

Harry followed him into what seemed to be the girls' bathroom. His mind backtracked at the thought. Girls' bathroom? What the heck were they doing here? He really hoped that Tom didn't have some kind of strange fetish of checking out girls in the bathroom. 'Thwack!' Harry's thoughts had barely started running down a dangerous road when Tom gave him a smack on the head.

"No, I do not have some strange fetish of checking out girls. I am actually here to show you something much cooler… but if you don't want to see it then I guess we could head back…" Harry glared at Tom's retreating back and he tried very hard to keep his curiosity at bay, but he couldn't.

"Come on Tom, I'm sorry for that thought. Please tell me about the thing you wanted to show me." Tom chuckled and turned around. "Ok, but keep in mind that I've never liked girls in that way." Harry blushed and followed Tom to one of the sinks. It didn't look much different from the rest until Tom pointed out that it had a small symbol of a snake.

Tom looked at him expectantly. "Can you take a guess on how to open this?" Harry felt confused about why he would even know how to open anything in a girls' bathroom until he realized that the single snake symbol meant something. His first guess would have been abracadabra, but he doubted that the wizarding world would know anything about wannabe muggle wizards. So he simply hissed - _Open -_.

At first, nothing happened and he looked at Tom, who only smiled. He was about to say something when a deep rumbling noise filled the air. Harry took a step back as the sinks split open and a tunnel was revealed. He took a few steps closer to the hole and gasped when he saw that it went straight down. Tom chuckled at his look of amazement.

"Come on, there is someone I would like you to meet." Harry looked at him skeptically. "There's someone who actually lives down there?" Tom grinned and Harry gulped as he sensed that Tom was planning something, but the man distracted him by kissing him senseless. He felt a slight jerk and started screaming as his body felt nothing but the air around him until he felt Tom dragging him into his arms just before they started descending down what seemed to be a slide.

Tom laughed. "Sorry Harry this is the only way down the first time." Harry's eyes widened as he looked at Tom. "Then how are we supposed to get back out again!" the man just smiled. "Don't worry, there is another way that we can use, but it would only be visible when you have gone down the slide once. It's kind of like a test of courage, but in this case, it is to test how much you want a certain person's knowledge."

They finally got to the bottom and Harry had to support his arms on his knees to try and get his heart out of his throat. "What do you mean a certain person?" Tom kept silent and Harry looked up… right into the eyes of an enormous snake as it curled itself together behind Tom. His mind immediately registered that it was a basilisk if the pictures in the books he read were anything to go by, and he closed his eyes.

"Tttt-ooom-mm, don't look behind you, th-e-ere's a basilisk!" Harry heard a chuckle and he thought that his mate was going mad until he felt Tom's arms around him. "Don't worry Harry, you're a Parseltongue. That means that you can both talk to snakes and no snake can harm you. This is Sephra. She was Salazar's familiar until I found her down here. Now she regards me as her master until the true heir returns. You might have heard about it from those old coots already during your Animagus training, but even though I am an heir of Slytherin, he is not my guardian."

Harry opened his eyes and looked at Tom in surprise. The older man winked at him. "Yes, from what you have told me about your experience with Merlin and Salazar, it means that you are the heir." Harry looked at Sephra as the meaning dawned on him, but then he frowned…which made the giant serpent worried. - _Have I dissspleasssed you in any way massster?"-_ Harry jolted and shook his head. - _No, you haven't Sephra, I just don't like the idea of being anyone's master. I would rather have you be free, on the condition that you don't hurt anyone except our enemies of course. -_

Harry didn't really want to add the last bit, but he was quickly reminded of Dumbledore using the torture curse on poor Peter. Sephra seemed to look at him in surprise then smiled. Or at least did something with her lips that resembled a smile. - _Master Ssslytherin had hoped that hisss dessscendantsss would be kind and he had given me the option of not following the new massster'sss orders if he or ssshe were cruel. I sssee now that the massster'sss dessscendantsss hold on to the kindnesss. Thank you. I ssshall call you both friendsss from thisss day forward and I ssshall not harm anyone on your ssside -_

Tom and Harry grinned, but it was Harry who stepped closer to Sephra. - _I don't just want a friend, I want you to be a part of our family. That isss what you truly are after all. No one can call you a mere familiar or just a friend when you had actually been a part of the family for even longer than we ourselves have been. -_ The snake's 'smile' seemed to grow even bigger and she leaned in close.

\- _I wish to give both you and your mate a gift. I will inject my venom into you, but it will not hurt you, instead it will give you the ability to withstand almost all poisons. It isss not much, but it will ssstop mossst evildoersss from getting their way and sssince both of you are alssso bonded with the phoenix, it ssshould insssure that you live a long and happy life no matter what troublesss may follow you. -_

Harry looked at Tom, who nodded in awe and they both stepped closer to receive the piercing of the basilisk's fang. Their phoenixes erupted and quickly healed them directly afterwards. Tom and Harry grinned at each other as the wounds healed. They sat down and talked with Sephra for a while and when they had to leave Harry could see that the snake was lonely.

He looked at Tom. "Isn't there some way that we can take her with us? I know this was Salazar's secret rooms, but she probably gets very lonely down here." Tom looked like he wanted to shake his head, but he paused before his eyes widened. "There is! I saw it in Salazar's library." Tom rushed to the library with Harry and Sephra following hot on his heels. They had barely entered the Slytherin library when Tom took out a book from one of the top shelves.

"I wanted to try it a while ago, but we didn't know who the heir was so I didn't want to get Sephra's hopes up before we met the heir." Tom held out a book to Harry and Harry scanned it. "It's relatively simple although the wand movements need to be very precise." He looked at Tom. "Can you do it? I'm afraid that I will mess it up." But Tom shook his head. "This was your idea and your responsibility Harry. Have a little more faith in yourself. I have never seen someone adapt to magic as fast as you did. I know you can do this."

Harry turned to Sephra with pleading eyes, but she shook her head as well. - _Tom isss right. Only the true heir can perform the ssspell. It was a condition that wasss built into the ssspell to keep the heir'sss enemiesss from usssing the ssspell againssst him or her. I'm afraid that Tom would experience a backlasssh of hisss own magic before the wordsss were even voiced._ -

He looked at Tom and Sephra in shock. - _How sssure are you about me being the heir? -_ Tom grinned. "We are about fifty percent sure." But the man hastily rushed to reassure Harry when he saw that he had become as pale as a ghost. "I joking Harry! Don't worry we can both sense that you are Salazar's chosen heir. Do you really think that I would allow you to do something dangerous?" Harry grimaced as he thought back on the flight incident. His new family would definitely not allow him to do anything dangerous.

He swallowed nervously and then took out his wand. He uttered the words to make sure that he had the pronunciation of the spell right, but he didn't really get as far as casting it. A wave of mist suddenly surrounded him and he gasped as he felt another presence beside him. "So someone is finally going to release Sephra from her proverbial cage. It's about time someone thought about it. My other heirs were too scared of her. But then again, except for you and your mate, only two others ever made it in here in one piece."

Harry turned his head and raised a surprised brow as he saw that it was Salazar standing next to him. The apparition seemed solid and Harry was very surprised when his hand met flesh as he reached out to test it. Salazar smirked. "Yes, for a mere few moments I have come back to life. It was quite an ingenious spell actually. It had to be cast moments before the witch or wizard dies and they have to connect the trigger with a spell that only they know. Now let's stop the common chit-chat shall we?"

Salazar moved to stand in front of Tom. "You know, I would have made you my heir too if that idiot cousin of mine hadn't decided to beat me to it. That was one joke he literally took too far." He then turned to Sephra and Harry was surprised to see that the snake had wetness around her eyes. Could snakes even cry?

\- _Asss for you my dear Sssephra. It is good to sssee you. You have grown a lot sssince I last sssaw you. Would you truly like to be able to conceal yourssself and to be with Harry and Tom? -_ The snake nodded insistently as she moved closer and placed her head against Salazar's chest. - _I really want to go with them after being in here alone for ssso long. -_

Salazar smiled. - _Thisss ssspell will return you to when you were younger and sssmaller. It will alssso conceal you to look like a regular sssnake, but you will ssstill have all your giftsss at your disssposssal. Now, think of the form you would like and I will cassst the ssspell. Keep in mind that it is permanent and you will only grow back to your presssent length when the appropriate number of yearsss hasss passsed. -_

Sephra hissed in agreement and nodded to Salazar. The founder quickly started weaving the spell and a brilliant green snake with silver markings stood in the place where a basilisk once was. All three men gasped at the sight of her and Salazar bent down and stroked her reverently. - _Any ssspecific reason why you chossse the sssymbol of the houssse of sssnakesss, my dear? -_

The newly formed snake slithered up Salazar's offered arm and settled in his neck. It was shocking to see how small she was. - _It isss to honor both you and your dessscendantsss. I have not found another family like thisss one in the time that I have lived… althought… -_

Sephra looked at Tom and Harry. - _It sssoundsss like I may be gaining a lot more alliesss in the future, but my heart will always be with the ssspeakersss ssstanding within thisss very room. -_ Harry was puzzled. He didn't know why the snake would sound like she had already known him for a very long time instead of just barely a half an hour, but he found that he already cared for her as well.

He turned his gaze to Salazar. "Why did you choose this spell as a trigger when there was no guarantee that someone would read the books in the library or that someone would want to free Sephra?" The founder smiled. "Because only a true Slytherin would endeavor to learn all the knowledge that they can in order to protect themselves and others and only someone who wasn't scared of Sephra, would try to take her out of the chamber. That also brings me to the reason for why I am here. I wanted to ensure that the heir, who took Sephra out of the cavern, wasn't doing it for financial or any other gain."

Salazar looked at them and smiled. "I really didn't expect two of my descendants to be mates though. I am glad that Sephra has found her new family." Salazar's form began to grow transparent and he laughed as he saw that it looked like Tom wanted to ask him a lot of questions really badly. "If any of you have any questions, then Harry might be able to call me up through his link with me. But be warned, it would take a lot of energy to give me a corporal form, yet I am sure you will manage."

Two descendants and a snake found themselves nodding almost dumbly as Salazar disappeared. It wasn't every day that you were told that you could summon one of the founders at will after all. Harry looked at Sephra, whom Salazar had put down before he had disappeared, and bent down to pick her up again. She was barely 60cm long and it was strange to think that such a deadly snake was now concealed behind a harmless façade.

He looked at Tom. "You really know how to plan surprises, don't you?" Tom laughed. "Don't look at me I'm not the one who can summon a founder at will." Harry watched in fascination as a mist seemed to materialize behind Tom and a hand settled on his arm causing Tom to curse, spin around and yank out his wand all in one movement.

A laugh echoed through the room and Tom cursed again. "That was not funny Godric!" He turned to Harry. "Why did I have to be saddled with the biggest prankster ever?" Harry tried to keep his laughter in, but he couldn't so he just let it out. He looked at Tom as he tried to catch his breath a few seconds later. "I think it's because you said that I am able to summon a founder. He might have thought that you had forgotten about him."

Tom shook his head. "I don't know what he's going on about I just said that because I can't summon him to get information. Otherwise, I would have asked him for tips in dueling a long time ago already." Harry thought for a moment. "I know you showed me a lot about the history of the wizarding world that time when I had to sleep so long, but I didn't actually understand what their true strengths were. I only know that someone mentioned that Godric loved something called Serpent Skin." Tom's eyes widened and Harry felt Sephra curl up tighter around his arm and Harry laughed.

"Not real snakeskin! Apparently, Serpent Skin was a type of sweet you got that was made from long lines of flattened licorice with patterns on them that kind of made it look like a shed snakeskin. I looked it up, it's easy to make. Maybe we would be able to draw him out like that for you." Tom shook his head and smiled. "Only you would ever think to bribe a founder with their favorite snack."

Harry shrugged and smiled back. Tom took his hand and let him out of the chamber to a door that wasn't there before. Harry looked back at the chamber in regret. He didn't want to leave just yet, he wanted to explore. Tom gave his hand a squeeze. "You can come down here again whenever you like. I also would like to ask you to come down here if you find that you are ever in need of a place to hide. People who don't speak parseltongue aren't allowed in here without the permission of a speaker."

Harry nodded and they made their way out the door. Harry froze in surprise as he realized that the exit they used, was situated just across from where the door to the Dark Arts classroom was. He looked at Tom, who winked at him and they entered the door to the classroom. Harry looked back, but the door still didn't disappear.

"The door will always stay visible to you now. Just try to only enter it when no one else is around. The door will glow a greenish color if there is someone else within viewing distance or if someone is watching you through a spying spell. They may not be able to get in or see the door, but it would raise too many suspicions that could compromise the safety of the chamber." Harry nodded and they went to their rooms.

Harry didn't feel like sleeping alone though so he waited until he believed that Tom was asleep before he climbed out of bed and silently sneaked into the older man's room. He looked at Tom's sleeping face as he neared the bed and the sight brought a smile to his own. He silently walked around the bed and very slowly climbed on in order to not wake Tom, but a hand reached out to drag him onto the bed and he fell into Tom's arms with a squeak.

"You know, you aren't very good at sneaking." Harry could hear the humor in the sleepy man's voice so he relaxed. Tom was going to allow him to stay. "I'm good at sneaking, but you are just a lot better a detecting me and listening in on my thoughts." He heard Tom chuckle softly at that and snuggled deeper into the man's arms as the same arms tightened around him, pulling him closer to the man's warm body.

Harry smiled and sleepily closed his eyes. He always fell asleep immediately once Tom held him. He mentally shrugged. It must be a mate thing. A soft hiss came from a bed in the corner where Sephra was sleeping and Harry softly hissed back. A few seconds later, Harry smiled as Sephra curled herself up on the covers next to him. His last thought before sleeping was that he was very lucky to have such an amazing family.

 _ **Sorry for only updating now. I had to work and since then we have been sitting without internet because the company we rent the line from didn't realize that there was a fault in the line. Thank you for reading.**_


	13. Chapter 13 Life at Hogwarts

_**The Odd Combination of Fate and Humor**_

 _Notes:_

 _Disclaimer:_

 _You know the drill already: I do not own Harry Potter in any way; those rights belong to J.K Rowling. The plot and any extra characters are my own though._

 _Warnings:_

 _This story WILL contain slash! This means that this story will be purely male x male slash regarding the main characters. Please do not read if you find it offensive to read about two guys kissing…etc._

 _Everyone else… please enjoy_

Key:

"speech"

" _soft spoken or seemingly vague speech"_

'thoughts'

\- _Parseltongue_ -

' _Latin words'_

 _ **Mental messages**_

 **Letters**

 **Chapter 13: Life at Hogwarts**

Harry felt a hand shake him insistently, but he didn't want to get up. He groaned and a chuckle caught his attention just as he was about to pull a pillow over his head. "You know, I'm starting to think that there are other ways to get you to wake up when you are with me…" Tom moved closer as he said that and Harry started to breathe a little harder as the idea stuck in his head.

Their tongues played as Tom kissed him and Harry moaned at the sensation. He rolled onto his back to give Tom better access and the man groaned above him as he pressed against him more insistently before playfully biting his lips and crushing him to him. He opened his eyes and looked at Tom as their lips parted.

"Shower and get dressed my love; I want to show you the rest of the castle." Harry didn't need extra prompting and he jumped up to do just that, even though he almost threw Tom off of the bed in his haste. Tom chuckled and took his hand once he was done. "Our first stop is the Great Hall." They entered a room that seemed mostly empty even though it showed signs of frequent use. "Here you get all your food at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, except if you go into the kitchens and find your food yourself."

Harry looked at Tom in confusion and the man grinned. "A lot of students don't know about the kitchen, so don't go spreading the 'rumor' too much, but if you order something in the kitchen they will always make what you want. The house elves love company and if you can befriend them, then they could be the most loyal beings ever."

The younger man nodded in understanding as he looked at the huge hall. "Why don't the four houses sit together? Wouldn't it actually promote too much competitiveness if the houses are not even able to mingle during dinner?" Tom seemed to think for a minute and he was about to answer when Severus walked into the room. He had a familiar snake in his hand.

"Yes, the divide in the houses causes a lot of fights. The houses were originally meant to act as a home away from home where students were placed with people who had the same passions and interests. This should have ensured that there would also be a little friendly competition during classes and sports in order to take the students' minds off of being homesick. But the friendly house rivalries turned into feuds that dragged everyone into the disputes and now it would be very hard to reverse the hate that certain houses have for each other."

Harry wondered what started the fights as Severus handed Sephra to him. "She was wandering the halls as I passed her and since it is strange that she didn't immediately try to attack me, I guessed that you probably made a new companion. Have you thought about what you were going to call you owl and your other snake?"

The young man nodded and smiled. "The owl's name is Hedwig and the snake's name is Omen. I still need to introduce them to Sephra here though. They will be able to keep each other company while I am at classes." Severus nodded, but Tom looked thoughtful.

"I think you should always try to keep either Omen or Sephra with you when you are walking around school and during classes. Hogwarts is safe, but there are cases where people can be forced to do something that they do not want to do. I know you also have the portkey, but it would be useless if you are knocked unconscious."

Harry nodded. He would definitely be following that suggestion. He felt his heart swell a little as he saw how worried the two men were about him. "I will do that and I will try to learn a few other ways to protect myself." Harry smiled as an idea occurred to him. "Can't we have extra defense classes? Or maybe have an extra non-compulsory class where students can learn and teach each other how to protect themselves with or without wands?"

Both Severus and Tom's brows rose in surprise and Severus immediately nodded. "Yes we can implement such a class, but it would have to be more of a club than a class. Otherwise, we would have to wait for the official creation of a new class, which could take a while considering the politicians that are involved with the school. We will also need to ask both the Head Boy and Girl to assist with supervision or we can divide it up between the prefects as an extra duty."

Tom smiled. "If you tell them that it is an activity where they can earn extra points for their houses with each shift they take then I am sure they wouldn't have a problem. We would just have to make it clear that they would be taken off the duty list if their academic work falls under question."

Severus nodded and excused himself. Both Tom and Harry could see that he was very eager to create the class since it would serve to help not only Harry but also a lot of other students. Tom turned to Harry as Severus disappeared from their sight. "Have you thought about when you want to train with your animagus form?" Harry shook his head.

He didn't want to do it alone, just in case something went wrong, but he also didn't know if someone would have enough time to teach him in between all the extra things that they had to do in the castle. Tom sighed as the words drifted over to him. He grabbed Harry's hand again and walked towards another part of the castle. "I would be able to teach you. But the timing would be tricky. Most people are still tired in the mornings and at night and this has an influence on whether or not you would be able to successfully meditate."

Harry nodded in understanding but spoke up. "I usually don't feel tired before I go to sleep so if it's alright with you, then doing it at night before bed would be perfect." The older man nodded and smiled. Tom then proceeded to show Harry the rest of the castle.

… _ **a few hours later…**_

Harry felt exhausted as Tom finally promised him that they were at the last room. It was amazing to see everything, but the castle was huge and he was sure that he had blisters on his feet because of the tour. Tom declared that they had arrived, but Harry could only look at him strangely since they were standing in front of a blank wall.

Tom winked at him before walking up and down the corridor three times, seemingly deep in thought. To Harry's surprise, a big door formed where the wall had once been blank. Tom took his hand and guided him inside where a warm fire cast light upon a cozy couch. "This is the Room of Requirement. It only appears when a person is in need of it, but you can call it by walking up and down in this corridor and thinking clearly about what you need. The room can change to become almost anything that the caller desires."

Harry sat down in awe, absentmindedly rubbing his feet after kicking off his shoes. Tom came to sit beside him and Harry was surprised to see that he had some cream in his hands as he grabbed the foot that the younger man had been rubbing. Harry blushed as he realized that Tom intended to rub his sore feet and he shook his head in embarrassment while trying to take his foot out of Tom's hands.

Tom gave him a look and Harry reluctantly gave in. "Let me take care of you, Harry. You don't have to be embarrassed with me." Harry nodded and sank back into the chair. As embarrassed as he was, Harry couldn't believe how good Tom was with his hands. He could practically feel himself dozing off a while later as Tom finally released his other foot.

He felt boneless as Tom pulled him into his lap. He was so comfortable as he settled into the older man's lap that he almost forgot about his friends. 'Almost' being the operative word, but Tom calmed him down as soon as he felt the slight shift in Harry. "Your friends all know that you are spending some time with me and Sephra already volunteered to talk and communicate to Omen and Hedwig that you are safe. Don't worry about anything else, you need a little break once in a while."

Harry nodded sleepily and dozed off. He was somehow aware of what Tom was doing while he was asleep and so it didn't surprise him when he woke up from his nap to find Tom reading something that looked like an ancient tome. He was pretty sure that it was only magic that managed to hold the pages together.

Tom closed the book and set it down before looking at him. "Did you enjoy your nap?" Harry nodded. A part of him wondered how he had before so at ease around Tom so quickly. The man had a way of setting everyone at ease around him and Harry doubted that he would hurt someone out of anger… his thoughts were stopped as Tom looked at him with a frown. The man must have heard his thoughts again.

When Tom spoke, Harry found out that his thoughts had indeed been heard. "I'm not a saint Harry. Bad things happen when I am angry and that is why I always do everything I can to keep calm in bad situations. I do have a bad temper when it comes to certain things. I thought I told you this before."

Harry nodded. "You did tell me, I just can't seem to connect you with someone who loses their temper at any given moment. You have this way about you that makes it seem like you are always in control even when something unexpected happens. In a way, I am slightly jealous of that. Usually, my body acts before my mind can catch up and I have been in a lot of bad situations because of that."

Tom shifted into a better position on the couch before he pulled Harry back to lie against his chest. "What kind of bad situations?" Harry's eyes turned thoughtful before he answered. "Well, I once saw my cousin picking on this one little boy we had at school. The boy's parents didn't have a lot of money so they couldn't really buy him everything that he needed, so he had to wear old second-hand clothes. I didn't see what the problem was since I always got Dudley's old clothes and so I tried to stand up for the boy."

Tom's arms tightened around him before relaxing again, but Harry could feel that he was still tense as he continued his tale. "As you can guess, my cousin wasn't too happy about it and he said that I would get a double beating if I didn't move out of the way, but my body simply refused to move, not that I really tried. I ended up in hospital on that day and that was only because the boy ran to fetch the school nurse. But when I returned to school two days later, the boy ignored me as if he didn't know me at all and Dudley completely forgot that he had picked on the boy."

The sad tone in Harry's voice made Tom turn his face towards him so that he could look his young mate in the eyes. "I'm afraid to say this…" Harry could see fury boiling in Tom's eyes as he spoke and his breath hitched, not in fear but with something else. Tom looked breathtaking when he was angry and Harry couldn't stop himself from thinking that he would love to see the man losing his temper. "…but I think that Dumbledore might have interfered there. It is fairly easy to obliviate a person's memory so that they do not remember something. My guess is that the boy didn't remember you because he didn't remember that you saved him and your cousin had been placed under a compulsion to bully only you."

Harry thought for a moment as the words sunk in and then he nodded sadly. "You might be right about that, but I guess I preferred it that way. If the boy had been my friend then he would also have been beaten up on a daily basis and I wouldn't have been able to stop myself from trying to protect him. Things turned out better in that regard I guess."

Harry gasped as Tom's fury turned towards him, but he knew instinctively that Tom was angry at his mindset and not at him. "You will never say something like that again! Yes, the boy might have been beaten up a few times, but you would have had a friend and you would have had someone to care about you even if those worthless muggles didn't. I hate the thought of you being hurt, but you would have had someone you could possibly go to and count on when you had to get out of your relative's house."

The younger man nodded as a blush crept onto his face at the intense look in Tom's eyes, so he looked at this fingers. It would have been nice to have a friend in the past, but he wasn't done with his story yet. "That's true, but that was only the start of things. The beatings kept getting worse until I snapped one day and stabbed my cousin with a pencil in the leg just to get away before he smashed my face in with a rock. I ran and took a wrong turn into a dead-end, but before I could get out, my cousin and his friends cornered me. I closed my eyes and waited for death because I knew that it was coming, but my entire body and mind screamed to get away. I felt a strange sensation and wanted to throw up, but when I opened my eyes I found myself on the school-roof."

Harry looked up into Tom's face, but instead of just anger, he also saw surprise. "You mean to tell me that you apparated?" Harry nodded. "How old were you when this happened?" The younger man worried if he had done something wrong. He knew that children under 17 weren't allowed to apparate, but it had been an accident. "I was 7 years old when it happened. A while later I found out that I wasn't going to school anymore because the Dursley's had told everyone that I was a bully and that I had been kicked out of many other schools, so everyone agreed to keep quiet so that I could stay at home."

Tom was practically shaking at this point and Harry had no idea what to do. They had been relaxed all morning and now he had ruined it because he talked about the past. Harry tried to stand up to find a way to calm Tom down, but the man's arms tightened around him before he found himself being flipped onto his back with Tom on his hands and knees above him to keep him from escaping.

Harry watched as Tom abruptly leaned in and he moaned as their lips mashed together. The kiss was hot and angry before it became gentle until Tom pulled away. The older man lightly pressed his forehead against Harry's as they tried to catch their breath. "I would very much like to protect you from all of these memories Harry, but I know that I can't undo what has already been done. I only wish that we could have found you sooner."

Harry adamantly shook his head. "No Tom, I am pretty sure that we wouldn't have found each other in the same way if you had found me earlier. As much as I don't like the life I have led while I was with the Dursleys, I am sure that we would have missed each other through misguided thoughts."

Tom looked at him in confusion and Harry sighed. "Be honest with me, would you have been so open to a relationship if you had known me since I was little?" He could see that Tom wanted to say yes, but the man the man sadly shook his head before speaking.

"You're right. It probably would have taken us a lot longer to find each other, if even at all. We would have been stuck thinking of each other as siblings or you would have regarded me as somewhat of a father-figure. You also wouldn't have invoked the rune-circle and made the Goblins your allies against Dumbles." Tom sighed. Neither of them wanted to think of Harry's past as necessary, but the thought that they would have probably been living together as siblings instead of mates if it didn't happen was too weird to ignore.

Tom hugged Harry to his chest and settled down next to him before calling an elf. "Dobby." A rather energetic house-elf appeared and Harry couldn't help but blush as the elf started dancing around excitedly at the sight of him. Tom merely chuckled and instructed the elf to fetch them something to snack on. The elf disappeared with a crack and Harry looked at Tom for an explanation.

"The Malfoys found Dobby without a master and decided to take him in, but they didn't expect him to be so different though so they sent him to work here at Hogwarts instead." Harry frowned at this. "I don't like the idea of someone sending someone they helped away, just because he is different." Harry felt a little disappointed in his family, but Tom shook his head.

"They didn't send him away because they didn't like him, Harry. The house elves at their house have been around for many years and they were set in their ways. Lucius knew that he had to send Dobby elsewhere if he wanted the elf to be able to fit in otherwise he would have been rejected by the other house elves. Their magic made them loyal to their masters and when a house elf is around a certain manner of thinking for too long, then the elf will start to reject elves that are different even if their current master commands them not to. This would have forced the Malfoy elves to beat themselves up on a daily basis since they would be going against their current master's orders by rejecting the other elf and yet their magic would force them to uphold the Malfoy traditions and rules that had been set aside for them."

Harry looked at him with wide eyes. He didn't know that house elves were so strict on themselves or that their magic sometimes dictated their actions. "I would have liked to have him around. I barely saw him and I'm already thinking that he is interesting."

Tom nodded and smiled. "Well, magic has dictated that the Malfoys are your family so technically you can take Dobby as your personal elf. None of the Malfoys would mind and I think they would actually be glad if he was with you. It would be sensible to have a house elf with you since they can get into places that wizards and witches can't."

Harry looked confused so Tom motioned to the space around them. "You have to be very powerful to be able to apparate into Hogwarts or out of it and even then it creates a strain on your magic. House elves on the other hand come and go with apparition all the time. It is said that their master's order override almost any restrictions that are placed upon a building."

Harry frowned as he thought about it before he spoke. "Does that mean that a certain old man could use an elf to kidnap me or someone we know from Hogwarts?" Tom turned shocked eyes to Harry as he processed the information. He hadn't thought of that at all! Just then a pop sounded and Dobby reappeared with two plates that were piled high with all kinds of snacks.

The elf set them down and turned to Tom to await further orders. Tom didn't even bother hiding his shock as he started speaking to the elf. "Dobby, would it be possible for an elf outside Hogwarts to apparate in and take something?" The elf nodded frantically. "Yes Master Riddle sir, it is possible. There be no anti-elf wards on the castle since it be safe haven for all unwanted elves. But it be possible for masters to restrict elf apparition in masters' rooms to only some elves if masters be wanting to protect something."

Tom looked closely at the elf. "Would an elf be capable of putting up elf wards? Or would the master have to know how to do it?" The elf looked around the room before he answered. "The elves who are permitted to enter would be the ones putting up the wards so the signature be melding with elf magic, Master Riddle."

Tom looked satisfied and he looked at Harry. "So would you like to take ownership of the elf so that he could place elf wards in our rooms and at strategic places in the castle?" Harry started to nod, but then he looked at Dobby. "Dobby, my name is Harry Potter. Would you like to become my personal elf?" The elf turned a big smile towards him, but then the elf turned sad.

"Dobby be the property of the Malfoys, only Master Malfoy can free Dobby. They be the family that rescued Dobby. Dobby wanting to be Master Harry's personal elf, but Dobby me unable to." Harry smiled as he looked at the elf. He seemed to like the Malfoys a lot, but being a personal elf would heighten his status in the elf community, that much Harry knew and it seemed like Dobby really wanted to have a master that he could take orders from instead of just receiving orders from the general staff.

The elf seemed to turn even sadder as Harry thought about it so he rushed to reassure the elf. "The Malfoys are my family through a rune ritual Dobby, that means that your contract with them would not be broken if you don't want it to. You can be my elf while still being contracted to the Malfoys or I can ask Lucius if it would be okay if I made you my personal elf completely." The little elf started dancing up and down much to both Harry and Tom's amusement.

"Dobby be honored to be Master Harry's personal elf!" Harry smiled and nodded before something nudged at his mind and he looked from Tom to Dobby. "Dobby, Master Tom is my mate. If you become my personal elf then you will also become his personal elf as well. I will firecall Lucius as soon as we are done here."

The elf gave another excited hop before trying to seem more professional. Harry found it cute, to be honest. "It be Dobby's honor to also serve the great Master Riddle!" Tom smiled and dismissed the elf for now as they turned to their food. Dobby had apparently placed it under a stasis charm to ensure that each dish stays the temperature that it should.

They ate with an easy silence before calling Dobby back and firecalling Lucius from the fireplace that the room provided. Both Harry and Tom had been surprised when floo power appeared next to the fire and when the fire turned green just as they were on their way to go back to their rooms to make the call. They both vowed to keep it in mind just in case they ever had to escape the castle. Not that they wished that it would happen, but it was better to be prepared for any scenario rather than not.

Lucius had easily agreed to completely give Dobby to Harry and they had all been amused when the little elf actually made a backflip before remembering himself and stuttering out that it's not that he was unhappy to serve the Malfoys. Lucius only rose a brow and laughed before saying that he knew enough about elf-politics to know that being a personal elf is something akin to a big promotion.

The little elf had been crying at that point, saying that he can't believe that he had such good masters. Tom asked the elf to cast all the necessary protections and Dobby immediately got excited again before apparating away. Harry thought for a moment before turning to Tom. "Shouldn't Severus and Sirius at least be able to come into our lounge when there is an emergency?" Tom nodded then smiled down at him. "Severus automatically has access to the entire castle since he is the headmaster. The only time the wards would not open for him, would be if her was under the Imperius curse."

Harry nodded and looped his arm through Tom's as they made their way back to their rooms. He wasn't surprised to see Draco waiting for him there. Tom smiled and told Harry that he could spend some time with his friends if he wanted to since he had to work on the year-plan for his classes. Harry nodded and hugged him tightly before practically running off with Draco in the direction of their rooms.

Tom just shook his head at their enthusiasm and entered their rooms where Dobby seemed to be hard at work with the wards. He worked a while before allowing himself to grab a book and settle in on the sofa. He still needed to do some research on a few things to keep Harry away from Dumbledore and he knew that he might have to enlist the help of the Ministry as well.

Amelia Bones will definitely not be happy to hear that Harry was sent away to muggles, but he had to keep the news from the current minister in order to stop them from trying to cover up their mistakes. He also had to find out whether there was a loophole through which he could lose Harry since he wasn't 17 yet, but he knew that the rune circle would then come into play and since Harry was already adopted by his godfathers, they didn't have much to worry about, at least not yet anyway.

 _ **Hi, thank you for reading, I know I haven't updated in a while and unfortunately updates would be scarce at the moment since we currently have trouble brewing at home since the South African lifestyle seems to be going up in flames. I mean really, countries actually belong to no one and yet you get people who try to lay claim to everything. I might be a dreamer for thinking this, but wouldn't it be better if the plant just belonged to everyone? But no there has to be a few greedy jackasses who are thrown into the mix. Lol okay enough of my ranting. I will update again as soon as possible.**_


	14. Chapter 14 Trip to the Forbidden Forest

_**The Odd Combination of Fate and Humor**_

 _Notes:_

 _Disclaimer:_

 _You know the drill already: I do not own Harry Potter in any way; those rights belong to J.K Rowling. The plot and any extra characters are my own though._

 _Warnings:_

 _This story WILL contain slash! This means that this story will be purely male x male slash regarding the main characters. Please do not read if you find it offensive to read about two guys kissing…etc._

 _Everyone else… please enjoy_

Key:

"speech"

" _soft-spoken or seemingly vague speech"_

'thoughts'

\- _Parseltongue_ -

' _Latin words'_

 _ **Mental messages**_

 **Letters**

 **Chapter 14: A Trip to the Forbidden Forest**

Harry sat in the Great Hall with his friends because Tom needed to do a bit more preparation. He had a book open in front of him since he still needed to review a few things, but with Draco's supervision, he had managed to brew the last two potions that Severus hadn't gotten around to help him with, that morning.

The twins had helped him with a few charms that he had been struggling with and Neville had joined him as they walked through the greenhouses.

It was one thing to know that a plant could bite, but it was completely different when you actually saw a plant incapacitating then eating a mouse twice its size. He cast a tempus and saw that it was already very late in the afternoon, so he decided to go drag Tom away from his work so that the man could take a break.

Just as he stood up, he noticed that Severus seemed to be in a big hurry as he rushed out of the main doors of the castle. Harry excused himself from his friends, but he wasn't surprised when Draco followed him. The blonde must also have seen the tense look on the headmaster's face.

Their steps faltered a little as they saw that Severus was heading for the Forbidden Forest, but they picked up speed and called to him before he reached the first line of trees. They would get into trouble if they went into the forest alone even if they were just following Severus, but if they asked if they could accompany him then they wouldn't get into trouble.

Severus stopped and looked at them with eyebrows raised as Harry and Draco came to a stop in front of him. "You two should go back to the castle. There is a disturbance in the forest and I do not know what is causing it." Both teens frowned in worry and Severus gave a sigh. "Come along then. I guess that you would just follow me anyway if I didn't keep an eye on you."

Neither Draco nor Harry bothered to correct the man. He could think what he wanted if they were able to go with him. Severus took a moment to cast a shield and a concealment spell around them before they headed to where Severus felt the disturbance was.

It didn't take them long to find it and Draco and Harry forced themselves to not gape at the sight of what seemed to be a gathering of creatures. Centaurs, unicorns, sprites, fairies and a whole list of other creatures stood in a circle around something else. Harry, Severus, and Draco couldn't see much else, but Harry felt a draw to the center of the center and he unconsciously stepped forward. Deep in his mind, he heard a small voice call for help and he couldn't stop himself from wanting to do just that.

Severus tried to hold him back with Draco's help, but it was as if some unseen forced stopped them from interfering. They could only watch as Harry slowly neared the circle of creatures and they couldn't stop the surprise from showing on their faces as the circle parted to reveal a unicorn mare that seemed to be in labor.

Draco looked at the scene and then glanced at his godfather. "Sev, shouldn't we be stopping him? There's a stallion standing near the mare that looks a lot like the herd stallion. You told me that they don't like wizards so won't Harry be in even more danger if he goes near a mare that is about to give birth?"

Severus gave a pained nod, but just as he was about to speak a centaur made its way over to them. He had apparently heard what they had said because he shook his head. "The circle would not have permitted the youngling entry if it sensed negative thoughts. The herd stallion's first mare is about to give birth to the herd's prince and yet it seems as if there are some complications with the birth. It is not uncommon for unicorn magic to seek a pure soul to help them when they are in need, yet it is a surprise for the call to be directed to a wizard."

Severus was about to ask whether Harry would actually be able to help when the silence of the crowd caught his attention. He saw that Harry had finally reached the mare that seemed to be in extreme pain and he also saw that it looked like Harry was in some kind of trance. He glanced to the herd stallion but the unicorn seemed content to let Harry near his mare.

Harry felt strange as he finally reached the mare, but he didn't fight the lure. He slowly sank down to his knees and ran his hands over the mare. The touch seemed to soothe her a little bit as she opened her eyes and gazed at him before laying her head back down.

He didn't know what he was doing, but his magic sang in his veins and he decided to try and ease the mare's pain before directing his magic to help her with the birth. His magic somehow informed him that the foal was turned around so he lightly and slowly tried to turn the foal around.

He thanked Neville in the back of his mind as he remembered the book that the boy had on non-magical animals. The book had described the complete care of domestic animals and it was this book that guided him now. He didn't know how long he sat there while negating the mare's pain and slowly trying to fix all the complications, but the mare finally gave a final push and the foal was born just as the sky lightened with dawn around them.

Harry felt himself become lightheaded as the magic drain finally caught up with him, but before he could fall over he felt a creature with soft fur behind him stopping his fall. He was surprised to see that it was the herd's stallion. A faint whinny caught their attention and Harry watched in awe as a silver-white foal stood up on shaky legs.

Harry sagged in relief as he saw that the foal was completely healthy and he had to stifle an oomph as the foal lost its balance and landed on his lap. The sire and mare didn't seem bothered so Harry gave a hug before helping the foal onto its legs again.

The foal made its way to its father on wobbly legs and nuzzled him before walking back to its mother to begin nursing. Harry stood up with a soft smile as the stallion walked over to nuzzle the mare and he turned to make his way back to Draco and Severus so that he didn't interrupt their bonding, but he had barely taken two steps before he felt a tug on his shirt and he turned around again in surprise. He found himself face to face with the stallion and his body refused to move as the stallion lowered its head and placed its forehead just below the horn, against Harry's.

A peaceful feeling filled him as he felt his magic energy restored and a soft voice entered his mind. _"Thank you for helping my son into this world. We were all unable to right the wrongs that had occurred during the birthing process. If it wasn't for you then both my first mare and my foal would have died and so I reserve the right to grant you a boon. Whenever you are in need of us all you have to do is call my name, Helios."_

Harry blinked in surprise then smiled. "I will do so, but only if it brings you and your herd no harm." The unicorn chuckled softly in his mind. _"Yours is a light soul that we have not had the privilege to see in a long time. You and yours are welcome in this glade, no harm will ever befall you here."_

Harry smiled his thanks as he instinctively bowed and with a flash of light most of the creatures disappeared. Only the centaurs remained and the largest of the group walked towards him before stopping a small distance from him. "You have proven yourself to the unicorns and thus you have proven yourself to us. Both you and your family are safe with us and we would like to extend to you the right of a boon as well."

The centaur looked at him and Harry felt confused. This caused the centaur to laugh lightly. "Your innocence clearly shows that you did not do this for a reward. You just saved the unicorn prince and his mother and this will not be forgotten easily. Without the unicorn prince, the unicorns would die out in this forest and so the light and goodness that the unicorns provide would forever be lost to us here. I would still caution you if you were to enter this forest alone since there are many creatures that do not conform to the rules of protection, but we will protect you whenever we can."

Harry smiled. "Thank you, but I would rather not have anyone placing themselves in danger because of me. A voice was calling for help and so I helped him. What kind of person would I be if I ignored such a cry?" Harry frowned at the though and the centaur just shook his head with a smile on his face. "You sure are a strange wizard. My name is Bane. Please use it whenever you find yourself in need of some help."

With this, the centaur galloped away with the rest of the centaurs following him. Harry suddenly felt two arms crushing him to a strong chest and the tingling of his skin revealed that it was Tom. He winced as he realized that Tom must have been worried when he didn't return to their rooms and he turned around for what he thought would be a scolding.

Instead, Tom allowed him to turn around in order to be able to hug him tighter. It was then that Severus finally seemed to take pity on him. "Let up a bit Tom, you are going to kill Harry if you hug him so tightly." The man chuckled but he slightly loosened his grip. He looked down at Harry.

"Severus sent a Patronus a while ago so that we wouldn't worry." It was then that Harry looked around and saw his friends and family who were all presently at Hogwarts. Draco stepped up and lightly hit patted him on the back. "You really know how to charm, do you?"

Harry looked at Draco in confusion and the boy laughed. "First the werewolves, although that was a given since you are close to Remus, then the goblins and now both unicorns and centaurs. The last three never align themselves with wizards of any kind so this is truly a first."

This made Harry shrug. "I also don't know why they would do that. I mean our only problem is Dumbledore and his order and from what you have told me it sounds like it's only a few people. It's not like he has an army at his beck and call, otherwise, he wouldn't have to do things himself like when he tried to get Peter."

The people around him nodded, but he could feel Tom frowning through their link and this made him look up. Something was clearly bothering Tom, but Harry knew that the man would tell him when he was ready. The group made their way to the castle just as the sun rose and Severus called them all together.

Harry's friends circled him. The twins were impressed and even Ron and Neville pat him on the back with a 'that was awesome mate!' The rest of his friends nodded their heads in agreement. They all turned their attention to Severus as he cleared his throat.

"Since we actually have nothing to do today, I suggest that we have breakfast and then grab a few hours of sleep." He turned to Harry. "Draco told me that he and the rest have shown you everything that you need to know from the years that you have missed." Harry nodded and Severus smiled.

"Good, I would suggest that you all go glance through your books when you have some time later in order to familiarize yourselves with the things that you are going to be learning this year." He then turned to Sirius who seemed to be busy trying to sneak out of the hall.

"Sirius, I know that you haven't readied your schedule for the year yet so I suggest you get to it later unless you want either me or Remus to help you with it." Harry turned back to see that Sirius was embarrassed at being called out. He had to stifle a laugh though as he could practically see the gears overworking themselves in Sirius' head as he realized that he could get one of his crushes to help him.

Harry thought for a moment then turned to Severus. "Wouldn't it be better if both you and Remus help him? It would get done faster." It was just the excuse that the three men needed and they nodded their heads. Then everyone split up and headed off to bed. Harry hid his smile as he followed Tom and he could feel the man's amusement through the link. Harry slipped his hand into Tom's and they slowly walked to their rooms with a companionable silence.

Harry took a shower first and he was very tempted to ask the man to join him, but he knew that Tom wouldn't do that. It really was irritating that he still had to wait even though it was a nice sentiment when they first realized that they were mates. His body seemed to tingle every time that Tom was near him and it was starting to influence his thoughts a little too much.

He climbed out of the shower, dried himself off and then got dressed. He then walked out of the bedroom only to find a frowning Tom sitting on the bed. Harry mentally cursed and Tom's head shot up. Harry blushed red as he looked at Tom. "I really need to remember to stop broadcasting my thoughts don't I?"

Tom nodded and his gaze softened. "I'm sorry that I am making things so hard Harry, but we can't do anything that might give Dumbledore the chance to take you away, although I would like nothing more than to take you. Even though we are mates, the Ministry would be able to take you away since you are still underage. They could also take you away from Severus and Sirius because they would see it as them having consented to us having such a relationship by allowing you to sleep in the same room as me. But it won't matter once you have turned 16. I only thought that I would give you time till you are 17 because I didn't think you would accept the fact that I was your mate so easily."

Harry smiled and got onto Tom's lap to hug him. Tom kissed his head then stood up to lay him down on the bed before lying down next to him and pulling Harry's body against his. "Get some sleep Harry, we will be starting with your animagus training tonight so you need to get a lot of rest so that you are not tired out by the time you had gone through your books. You might think it weird, but teachers tend to ask questions from the books at the beginning of the year to see whether the students actually took an interest in what they are going to learn. This is how they see which students would excel in their class and which students they need to keep an eye on."

Harry nodded sleepily and cuddled deeper into his mate's side. Even though the herd stallion had restored his magic, his body still realized that he had not slept in more than 24 hours. It wasn't long before he passed out completely.

 _ **A few hours later…**_

Harry woke up to find Tom staring at him. He didn't even need to hear Tom's thoughts to know what the older man was thinking and it made him feel warm inside that Tom wanted him just as much as Harry wanted Tom. He lightly touched Tom's cheek and kissed him before getting up. He didn't want to make things even harder on his mate because he knew that Tom had very logical about things earlier and Harry really didn't want to risk his family and mate by having Dumbledore gain custody of him.

The thought made Harry frown. How did the Ministry not know what Dumbledore was up to? He looked at Tom and mentally directed the question towards him. It made Tom hug him closer to his body. "Unfortunately it seems to be a prerequisite to being an idiot if you want to become Minister. Ever since Dumbledore defeated the last Dark Lord named Grindlewald, everyone thinks that he is extremely powerful, but no one realizes that they were friends and Dumbledore used that to curse Grindlewald in the back."

Harry stared at Tom in shock and the man nodded. "I was very curious when I was younger and I actively searched for the man's prison. I found it too, but I did not like what I found. Grindelwald was locked behind wards that only allowed Dumbledore through, but he was able to hand me a diary even in his half-mad state. I visited him for a while until he begged me one day for a way to end it all. We both knew that he wouldn't be able to ever regain his sanity and he didn't want to place people in danger because it seems like Dumbledore was willing to use his release as blackmail over anyone who tried to kill the old coot."

Harry felt slightly sick at the thought of what Tom must have felt when he had to kill the man, but his attention was drawn to Tom when the man sighed heavily. "It's not as hard as you might think to kill a person with an Unforgivable. The death curse was initially made to take a sick person's life without them feeling any pain since it happens so fast. The main problem is that it feels like any other spell until you realize that you just took a person's life. The shell that stays behind haunts your dreams and it always makes you wonder whether you should have tried to save them instead."

Harry fiercely hugged Tom before turning the older man's face towards his. "It's not supposed to be easy to kill someone, you know. If people didn't have a conscience then most of the people in the world would be crazily killing other people right now. People already divide themselves into different nationalities without keeping in mind that we are all just people. People have a need to classify others as different because they think that this gives them an excuse to hate someone else. Unfortunately, a person always focuses on one bad memory even if the good memories are multiplied by a thousand. To tell you the truth, I am actually sick of people blaming each other rather than finding the problem in themselves and fixing it."

Tom looked at him in surprise and Harry just shrugged. "This might sound like a crude way to put it but a rapist always blames the victim for either teasing them or for doing something when the victim didn't actually intend it to be so at all and in the end it's the perpetrator's choice to follow through or not. People are greedy by default, but that does not mean that we should be ruled by our instincts." Tom lightly clubbed Harry over the head and this made Harry glare at the older man.

"You are not supposed to even know about stuff like that even if you are right in your way of thinking and this makes me feel the need to punish your family even more now." Harry shook his head with wide eyes. "It's not their fault remember? Dumbledore forced them…" But Tom interrupted his words and shook his head.

"Your parents told me about how your aunt was like and her husband really didn't sound like any better. Non-magical people would always be jealous of those who have magic because they think that it makes life easier, but they forget that magical people are in danger of a lot of things. Like it's legal to hex someone with a minor hex such as the bat bogey hex and no one can say anything about it. My point is that the dislike of magic was there so they didn't fight against the compulsion like your cousin did."

Harry nodded sadly as he laid his head on Tom's shoulder. "Come on you need to sleep a little while longer, Harry, I know I told you a lot and you want to think about it, but leave for tomorrow when you don't have to do anything." Harry nodded and closed his eyes and it didn't take Tom long to follow him to sleep again.

 _ **Sorry, yes I know this chapter seems a bit biased, but I didn't mean it to be. I just can't seem to understand why people can hate each other so much. At the moment there is a law that is pending here that allows the government to take anything you own without a chance of you getting repaid for it and I don't understand because this goes directly against the law that gives you a right to have all of the basic necessities to live and what's the use of buying something when it can get taken away? It seems like even your clothes and stuff like phones and laptops is on the list even if you bought it fair and square. So my family really seems to be into the moving to a different country thing and even I am excited to see new sights, but I guess it's my dreamer personality that longs for a place where people just accept each other**_ _ **I have a degree in editing and translating, but where could we move to?**_


	15. Chapter 15 How to Become an Animagus

_**The Odd Combination of Fate and Humor**_

 _Notes:_

 _Disclaimer:_

 _You know the drill already: I do not own Harry Potter in any way; those rights belong to J.K Rowling. The plot and any extra characters are my own though._

 _Warnings:_

 _This story WILL contain slash! This means that this story will be purely male x male slash regarding the main characters. Please do not read if you find it offensive to read about two guys kissing…etc._

 _Everyone else… please enjoy_

Key:

"speech"

" _soft-spoken or seemingly vague speech"_

'thoughts'

\- _Parseltongue_ -

' _Latin words'_

 _ **Mental messages**_

 **Letters**

 **Chapter 15: How to Become an Animagus**

Harry slowly blinked himself awake as he took in the room around him. Tom still seemed to be asleep so he took the chance to watch the man. He looked very peaceful so he didn't want to wake him. He cast a quick tempus only to see that it was past six already. He got up and went to grab a glass of water.

He then walked into the room where Tom was and he wasn't surprised to see that his mate was awake. The man always seemed to wake up either before him or with him. Tom patted the space on the bed beside him and Harry sat down on the bed with his legs curled up under him.

"I know that you already have your Animagus form in your mind and that you shifted into the form during the ritual, but changing in your mindscape and changing in real life require different actions. In your mind, you need to accept the form and you need to merge with it, but in real life, you need to will your body to make the change."

Harry nodded and he watched in awe as Tom got off the bed and his body started to change. A few seconds later a Griffin the size of a horse stood in front of him. He wanted to run his hands over the feathers on Tom's neck, but the flames that surrounded Tom's form stopped him.

" _It's ok Harry, my flames won't harm you."_ Harry smiled as he heard Tom's voice in his mind and he got off the bed to step closer to his mate. He slowly lifted his hand to the flames and gave a gasp of surprise as the flames only caused his skin to tingle pleasantly.

Tom made a purring rumbling sound as Harry ran his hands over him and Harry realized that Tom's form was very different from the pictures he had seen of Griffins. The first difference is that Tom's bird half resembled a flaming phoenix instead of the form of an eagle or a hawk.

And the second difference was that both the lion and the bird half were colored with the traditional phoenix coloring that made the lion half look more like the fabled fire-lions that tended to live on active volcanic islands. Only a few people had ever seen them before and most people did not live to tell the tale.

He smiled as Tom turned back into his human form and he gave his mate a hug before stepping back. "That was amazing Tom! Can the rest also shift into animal forms?" Tom nodded. "Yes, but not everyone. Narcissa and a few others have been struggling with it. Bella's form is a raven, Peter's is a rat, Lucius' is a snow leopard, Severus' is a black panther and Sirius' is a black dog. I don't know if the Weasley family got their forms yet."

Harry froze and Tom looked at him with concern. "What's wrong Harry?" The younger man looked at him. "Do Severus and Sirius call their forms Padfoot and Prince by any chance?" Tom shook his head. "No, they didn't choose their names by themselves. Your birth father, James, gave them their names while they were joking around. He said that Sirius looked like a demon dog named Padfoot that he read about somewhere and Severus acts like a Prince when he is in his cat form."

Harry suddenly laughed out loud until he realized that Tom was still looking at him and the man was still worried. "Sorry, I kind of forgot about something that happened during the ritual. I was in my mindscape and there was a black panther with the name Prince and a black dog with the name Padfoot there with me." Tom looked shocked and this worried Harry.

"Uhm is it bad?" Tom suddenly smiled and shook his head. "No it's not bad, it just doesn't happen very often during blood-adoption rituals. Salazar and Merlin told you about the guardian aspect of the animagus forms right?" Harry nodded. "Well seeing their forms in your mindscape means that they unknowingly gave you protection and comfort at a time when you were extremely vulnerable."

This caused Harry to smile. Prince and Padfoot had helped him a lot during the ritual and without them, he was sure that he would have felt lost. Tom walked over to sit on the bed. "If you want we can continue with the training tomorrow." Harry shook his head and Tom gestured for him to take the space next to him.

"Ok then, the first step is usually to find your animal, but since you already did that, we can move onto the meditation phase. This will help to build up your concentration and it will make it easier for you to shift between your animal and human forms and it will also shorten the time that it will take for you to change."

Harry shifted into a comfortable position and closed his eyes. He knew what meditation was in theory, but he also read that it was not easy to do. He soon found this to be true as he struggled to keep his mind from wandering off and falling asleep. Tom even nudged him awake a few times with a laugh until he finally got the hang of it and he finally opened his eyes four hours later when he heard Tom moving about the room.

Tom glanced over at him from where he was dishing up food from a selection that the house elves must have brought over. "Come on Harry, time to eat. How do you feel?" Harry smiled and got off the bed to walk over. "I feel great, but I think I sat in one position for too long."

Tom chuckled as Harry tried to stretch and the older man pushed him down into a seat and gave him the plate that he had dished up. Tom then moved to stand behind him and Harry groaned in relief as Tom slowly started to massage his shoulders.

"Unfortunately one of the problems with meditation is the long periods that you have to sit down without really moving." Harry sank back gratefully as Tom finished working out the final knot.

Tom then sat down and they ate in a companionable silence. When they were finished, Tom stacked their plates and an elf appeared to take it all away. He then turned to Harry. "Are you going to study with the others while I go through a few things in preparation for the classes?"

Harry nodded with a smile and he kissed Tom on the cheek before he went to his room to grab his books. He found Draco and the others in the library and welcomed him with a smile before pulling out a chair for him. "Hey, there stranger. We were starting to think that we would have to come in and kidnap you in order to see you."

Harry blushed and the others chuckled before they settled down to study. Harry was glad to see that he knew most of the work and they were soon practicing the few spells that they didn't know, together. He was a bit surprised at how many things the group actually knew amongst themselves.

Each person had their own hobby as well as their own strengths and weaknesses and they helped each other to get better. They all looked through the upcoming year's work together and Harry was surprised that he found most of to be easy to do and to remember.

He glanced up at the group. "I wonder what house I will be in." He looked at Ron who scoffed. "You will be in Gryffindor of course. Your parents were there and you are extremely brave and loyal." Neville looked at Harry. "I would like to think that you would be in Hufflepuff because you are caring and always willing to help."

Luna shook her head. "He is clearly a Ravenclaw. He learns things faster than anyone I know." Draco smirked. "I think he will be in Slytherin. He may have all the qualities of the other houses, but he also thinks things through most of the time and he plans ahead. He is also a Parselmouth and he will want to be close to Tom."

Harry blushed as his friends started arguing and then a laugh escaped him which caused the rest of the room to fall silent. He looked at his friends. "I guess that it doesn't matter what house I get into. I have friends in each house so it's not as if house rivalries will get in the way."

His friends all smiled and nodded while Draco crossed his arms. "That may be true, but I still think that you will be in Slytherin." The rest of the group just smiled and shook their heads. Draco would not give up on his choice until after Harry is sorted and Merlin forbid it if the blonde is right. Then they will have to hear about his amazing intuition for an entire week.

He spent a little more time with them until he saw Severus walking part the room just as he was thinking that he hadn't spent much time with Sirius so far. He quickly packed up and excused himself as he ran after his new adoptive father. The man was, of course, making his way to his potions lab and Harry caught up just before the door opened.

"Hey Sev, do you know where Sirius is? I just realized that I have mostly been spending time with Tom and that I haven't spent much time with either you or him." Harry stopped. "Come to think of it, I haven't spent time with Remus either." The man looked at him in surprise then smiled.

"We're not offended that you want to spend most of your time with Tom, Harry. Your bond is a new one and the magic inside will insist that you stay with him throughout most of the day. We will have to wait until you are sorted to see what we can do about your sleeping arrangements though. As for spending time with us, we can go into my private rooms and then I can floo call Sirius and Remus if you want me to. We were finally able to help Siri finish his work so I think he would like nothing more than to spend some time with you."

Harry nodded and he had to fight a smile. Severus didn't even realize that he had just shortened Sirius' name. He decided to wait until Remus and Sirius arrived to make sure that their attraction is actually real before he interfered. The three men were all just simply too stubborn to admit their feelings on their own.

Severus offered him a cup of tea as they waited for the other two men to arrive. The man had even called Tom to let him know where Harry was just in case he got worried when he didn't see Harry with the other students. Harry inwardly smiled. The man seemed to think of everything and everyone but himself.

Both Remus and Sirius entered the room within seconds of each other and it was obvious that the men had been getting ready for bed because it looked like the men had simply thrown on new clothes in a hurry. Harry thought it was funny until he saw the slightly hurt look in Severus' eyes.

Harry looked at the other two men and something in his mind clicked. Severus must think that they had been in bed together. He decided to clear up the misunderstanding before it formed. "You two look like you just got out of bed." The two men blushed and Sirius spoke. "I finally got my preparation finished with the help of Sev and Remi. I thought that I'd get an early night to make sure that I didn't oversleep tomorrow, but when Sev called, I decided I couldn't pass up the chance to spend time with my favorite people."

Remus laughed. "I _was_ busy reading in bed when you called and I guess I thought the same as Sirius did." Sirius and Remus glanced at Severus even though it looked like they were looking at Harry and the teen mentally shook his head. He definitely needed to find a way to bring the three men together.

They sat down on random chairs around the room. Harry managed to snag the only single seat, which forced the three men to sit on the couch with the three seats. They looked a little uncomfortable, but none of them could request Harry to move without needing to give up an explanation.

Severus prepared tea for them as well and Harry had to fight to hide his smirk as the man threw in some firewhiskey into theirs. It looked like they needed it after all. They spoke about random things for a while until Harry turned his attention to Sirius. "So are there any love-interests that I should look out for?"

The room became extremely tense immediately and Harry got angry at himself for being so blunt. Where was the cunning side that Malfoy had believed him to have earlier? Sirius was surprisingly the first to speak while he glanced at the other two men in the room. "There might be, but I don't have any chance of catching their eye."

Severus and Remus gaped at the other man as Harry subtly stood up and poured each man a firewhiskey into a glass. Severus nodded at him in thanks as he placed the glasses down. Harry then poured himself another cup of tea. The room was silent until Remus cleared his throat. "I had the same problem, but it seems like I might be wrong about one of them."

Sirius' eyes widened at the implications of Remus' words and both of them turned their attention to Severus simultaneously. The potion master sent a grateful look towards Harry before he picked up his glass and downed the whiskey. He then put the glass down with a harder than necessary thud before looking at Sirius and then Remus. "I am currently finding myself in the most unfortunate position of having the affections of two marauding Gryffindors," Harry frowned as he saw Remus and Sirius' faces fall "whom I want to throttle half of the time and kiss the other."

Harry barely managed to stop himself from laughing happily as the two Gryffindors snapped their heads up at the man in disbelief, but when he saw their eyes darkening to something that looked suspiciously like lust, he decided that it was time for him to head back to Tom. He quickly made his way out of the room towards the entrance when he heard something that sounded like someone had walked into a table after which the sound was accompanied by a groan.

He pulled open the door and shut it behind him before hurrying towards Tom's rooms. He actually felt slightly sorry for Severus because he was sure that the Slytherin was currently being cornered by the other two men. He wondered for a split second about who would come out on top before he shook his head to rid himself of that thought. His mind unnecessarily informed him that Severus was magically stronger than the other two men even if Remus was physically stronger and he practically found himself running into Tom's rooms.

He spotted the man nursing a whiskey of his own while reading and Harry took both the book and the whiskey out of the man's hands before climbing onto his lap. Tom chuckled as Harry dragged his face to his and they kissed long and hard while their tongues fought for domination. Harry finally calmed down and Tom turned him so that Harry was lying across his lap.

"Care to share on why you practically tried to kiss me to death after barging in here Harry?" The teen blushed and nuzzled his head into Tom's shoulder. "I was studying with Draco them when I saw Severus walking by and I decided to ask if I could spend time with him, Sirius and Remus. He arranged it and it was fun to visit, but I made the mistake of openly asking whether there are any love-interests that I should look out for."

Tom chuckled deeply as Harry frowned. "I take it that they finally stopped dancing around each other?" Harry nodded. "They gave roundabout answers to the question but they all seemed to know what the other meant. I barely got out of there in time if the looks they gave each other were any indication. Hell, I don't even know how that would work!"

Tom took his glass and downed his whiskey before he picked Harry up as he stood and walked towards the room. "We both know that you don't really want to know the answer to that one, but triad relationships happen in order to balance out the individuals within them. If they weren't balanced then their magic would be capable of lashing out due to the past trauma that they have experienced. With a triad, there is always one that can interfere when things get too heated."

Harry nodded. It made a lot of sense. Tom cast a charm to clean their teeth and their bodies before he changed their clothes into night-clothes. "We better sleep. The train might only arrive late in the afternoon, but we still have a few things that need to be sorted out. If you want you can ask Severus to use one of their surnames to stop the rest of the school from immediately knowing who you are."

Harry smiled at the thought. "That would actually be a brilliant idea. I don't want to go through all that fame stuff that you warned me about the other day. In fact, I hope that no-one outside of our circle will be able to know who I am." Tom's gaze turned thoughtful. "That would only work if you changed your name as well, which would be a good idea if it would hide you from Dumbledore's allies."

Harry nodded then yawned and Tom tucked him against his side as they cuddled. "We will talk to Severus and Sirius about it tomorrow morning. The goblins won't mind helping out if you decide to go through with it." Harry nodded again before calmness took over his body. He felt safe in Tom's arms as they drifted off to sleep.

 _ **Yay, I finally updated. I'm blaming my muse for fiddling with other one-shots while avoiding this story. I almost found myself thinking that I didn't know where I wanted to go with this story, but seeing all the followers and favorites that this story gets, got me back on track.**_


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